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Jurors found Brandon Fellows, age 29, of Schenectady, guilty of felony obstructing an official proceeding and entering and remaining in a restricted building in federal court in Washington, DC on Thursday, Aug. 31.
“His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the US Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election,” reads a statement from the US Attorney’s Office.
According to prosecutors, Fellows joined a mob of rioters who illegally entered the Capitol grounds and made their way to the Upper West Terrace by scaling a wall in order to get “a better spot, just like at a concert.”
He then entered the Capitol building through a broken window near the Senate Wing door at around 2:50 p.m.
Surveillance footage showed him wearing a fake beard made of red yarn, a hat in the shape of a knight’s helmet, and sunglasses. He also donned a flag and a trash can lid used as a shield.
Once inside the building, Fellows made his way to the office of Oregon Sen. Jeffrey Merkley, where he was photographed smoking marijuana with his feet up on a desk.
“I walked in and there’s just a whole bunch of people lighting up in some Oregon room.. They were smoking a bunch of weed in there,” prosecutors quoting him as later telling a reporter.
He then went to the Capitol crypt and walked around before finally leaving the building at around 3:45 p.m.
Fellows, a handyman and former high school wrestling standout who attended Hudson Valley Community College and lived in a converted school bus, represented himself at trial.
His lack of counsel led to an awkward moment in court when he accidentally admitted to two more felonies, saying he had prepared for an evidentiary hearing, not a bond hearing as he appeared before the court “pro se.”
Fellows had been out on pretrial release until he was ordered back into custody after allegedly leaving obscene voicemails for his pretrial service officer and calling the officer’s mother.
He also allegedly missed a court-ordered mental health evaluation.
“I’m at a loss as to how to advise Mr. Fellows,” US District Judge Trevor McFadden stated after the appearance. “I’ve never seen a defendant take a stand in a bond review hearing, and I think there are good reasons for that.
“Any statements you say now could be used against you at trial. I don’t know what you intend to say and it sounds like the attorneys aren’t sure either.”
Fellows reportedly said that he recorded a conversation with his previous court-appointed lawyer, during which he questioned whether he should contact McFadden’s family in an effort to get a new judge, something he stated he had already done with a judge in New York.
McFadden denied Fellow’s motion to have his bond status revoked.
“You’ve admitted to incredible lapses of judgment here on the stand, not least of which was seeking to disqualify a New York state judge,” McFadden said.
“You’ve engaged in a pattern of behavior that shows contempt for the criminal justice system, and I just have no confidence that you will follow my orders if I release you.”
Days after the Capitol breach, Bloomberg quoted Fellows as saying “I have no regrets… I didn’t hurt anyone. I didn’t break anything. I did trespass, I guess.”
He also bragged about his actions to several other outlets, including CNN, the New York Post, and Albany station WNYT.
In addition to the two felonies, jurors also convicted Fellows of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
In the 31 months since the Capitol riots, more than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach, including over 350 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
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