A New Mexico Judge rendered a decision this week to permanently banish a county commissioner from U.S. public office. The charge against this man was insurrectionary conduct related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Coury Griffin is the Otero County Commissioner in New Mexico and he is also the founder of Cowboys for Trump. He was caught on video illegally breaching Capitol security barriers and entering restricted grounds on the day of the riot.
Judge Francis Matthew declared that Griffin would wait to enter an area until the mob got “this door broke down,” according to the District Court Judge’s ruling.
Judge Matthew determined that Griffin “engaged in” insurrection, with the Fourteenth Amendment consequently disqualifying him from any office “under the United States, or under any State.”
This is the first time a public official has been barred from ever serving for this reason in the last 100 years, according to The New York Times. Judge Matthew ordered that Griffin be immediately deposed as an Otero County Commissioner.
Griffin had previously been convicted of entering and remaining in a restricted building on January 6. But he was acquitted of disruptive and disorderly conduct in a restricted building.
Judge Matthew decided that his acquittal did not mean that he should be spared from insurrection penalties.
Griffen did film a speech after reaching the Capitol inauguration stage. He said, “It’s a great day for America! The people [are] showing that they’ve had enough. People are ready for fair and legal elections, or this is what you’re going to get, and you’re going to get more of it.”
So get this straight…this city official is barred forever from serving the country in any official capacity because he walked around the Capitol and made a speech outside. And the charge is insurrection.
This is surely an overreach.
