A Donald Trump supporter who was among the first rioters to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been convicted of plotting to kill FBI special agents who investigated him over his crimes at the Capitol.
Edward Kelley, who was convicted last week of assaulting law enforcement officers and other crimes during the Capitol attack, was found guilty on Wednesday on three additional charges: conspiracy to murder employees of the United States; solicitation to commit a crime of violence; and influencing or retaliating against federal officials by threat.
The murder plot trial, which started Monday, took place in Knoxville, Tennessee.
NBC News affiliate WBIR in Knoxville reported that the jury convicted Kelley on all three counts after just an hour of deliberation. Kelley will be sentenced in the murder plot case on May 7, one month after he is set to be sentenced on his Capitol case, on April 7.
Kelley’s trial in Knoxville featured testimony from co-defendant Austin Carter, who pleaded guilty in November 2023.
Carter told authorities that he and Kelley plotted “to murder employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation” in December 2022, months after Kelley’s arrest on Jan. 6 charges. Kelley provided a list of about 37 members of law enforcement who worked on his Jan. 6 case, prosecutors alleged.