By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Prosecutors have opened discussions about a possible plea deal with a Missouri locksmith who entered the U.S. Capitol during the deadly Jan. 6 riot wearing a costume that looked like George Washington, a government lawyer said on Tuesday.
Preliminary discussions have begun “about a possible resolution without a trial” in the case of Isaac Yoder, owner of Yoder’s Lock and Key of Nevada, Missouri, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst told a hearing before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan.
During the hearing, Yoder formally entered pleas of not guilty to four riot-related misdemeanor charges, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A further hearing was set for October.
A statement of facts prepared by the FBI said that Yoder admitted to investigators in March that he had entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 and made his way to the building’s famous rotunda.
The rampage was carried out by supporters of then-President Donald Trump who interrupted the formal congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. The riot, which resulted in at least five deaths, occurred after Trump repeated to supporters his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.
Yoder was dressed in a costume resembling Washington, the first U.S. president, with a tricorn hat and long overcoat. The FBI said that Yoder brought with him to an interview with the agency before his arrest “the colonial attire he wore on January 6, 2021.”
The FBI statement quoted a story about the riot published on the Newsweek website in March featuring a picture of Yoder in costume and headlined: “George Washington Says if Capitol Rioters Wanted Trouble There’d Be ‘Piles of Bodies.'”
The FBI said that while inside the Capitol’s crypt, Yoder “was observed stopping so people could take his picture.”
More than 570 people face criminal charges related to the riot.
(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Editing by Will Dunham)
