WASHINGTON (DOJ) — A Florida woman was sentenced on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, on a felony stemming from her actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Her actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election.
Leslie Gray, 57, of St. Cloud, Florida, was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison, 12 months of supervised release, $2,000 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment by U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich. Gray pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding on June 1, 2023.
According to court documents, Gray traveled from her home in Florida to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4, 2021, to protest Congress’ certification of the Electoral College. After arriving in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, Gray went to the U.S. Capitol building and joined the crowd gathered at the premier of the East Front of the building, which was barricaded and patrolled by police officers.
After about an hour of protests, Gray joined the mob in surging forward, advancing past the barricades and up to the steps onto the East Front of the Capitol, ignoring United States Capitol Police (“USCP”) officers ordering the mob to stop. Gray live-streamed Facebook videos of her activity around and inside the Capitol that day and recorded her fellow rioters picking up and removing police bike rack barricades.
Gray chanted and yelled at the officers in the area, stating, “This is our house, m –! This is the ‘peoples’ house,” and called police calling “communists,” “pinky communists,” and “sellouts.” Gray also encouraged other rioters to resist police by yelling, “Push, push, push,” as rioters pushed bike rack barricades against police. As the rioters moved closer to the Capitol, Gray yelled, “We’re taking the house back now, we’re taking the house back!”
Despite orders from the USCP to stop, Gray and other rioters continued to push forward toward the Capitol building. As the crowd surged up the steps, Gray can be heard on her live-stream video, yelling “Stop the steal!” and “Go! Go! Go! Get out of my damn way! Go! Go!” After reaching the top of the steps, Gray declared on her livestream, “This is what you want – this is what you got! We are up to the doors now… we are about to breach Congress.” Gray illegally entered the Capitol at approximately 2:41 p.m. through the Columbus Doors.
Once inside the Capitol, Gray filmed herself inside the Rotunda, where she stated: “I am in Congress. This is our house. This is our house! We’ve taken it. We’ve taken it. This is our house.” Gray declared, “We have breached the halls of Congress.” While inside the Capitol, Gray repeatedly yelled “traitor” toward police officers before walking toward them. With alarms blaring audibly, Gray physically forced her way past police officers who were attempting to stop her from entering a corridor. As she pushed past officers, Gray yelled, “step aside! I am going in… this is our house… I am coming in. Damn right, I am coming in.”
Gray was then ordered by an officer to exit the Capitol building but refused, stating: “I am not going out. This is the people’s house. I am not going out.” The officer then forcibly removed Gray from the building at approximately 3:00 p.m. After finally exiting the Capitol, Gray recorded yet another livestream video on the Capitol steps, where she stated: “We stormed the Capitol today… This revolution that in earnest began today. We will take back our country from the communists…American patriots stormed the Capitol today. I am an American patriot. I stormed the Capitol today.”
Gray was arrested on June 15, 2022, in Florida.
