Monitor Editor
LAKE BUTLER— A Raiford man pleaded to a charge that he illegally entered the U,S. Capitol and protested inside the building during a riot that forced congress to suspend proceedings for five-and-a-half hours on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jonathan Daniel “Danny” Carlton pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
According to a statement of offense, which the defendant signed as part of his plea agreement, Carlton, who at the time of his arrest was a correctional officer at Union Correctional Institution, traveled to Washington by car the day before the riot with Bradley Weeks of Macclenny.
The two men attended the “Stop the Steal” rally and then marched to the Capital with other protesters.
“At about 2:00 p.m.,” according to the statement, “Defendant Carlton was a part of the group that had gathered on the lawn just north of the Northwest stairs. Defendant Weeks and Defendant Carlton watched as other members of the group destroyed the covering on the scaffolding, stood on the balustrade, and pushed past a line of officers trying to keep people away from the building. From there Defendant Carlton separated from Defendant Weeks and climbed the Northwest Stairs underneath the scaffolding to the Capitol’s Northwest Terrace.”
The statement says Carlton entered the Capitol with a large crowd through the Senate Wing Door about 2:48 p.m.
The statement added that while attempting to reunite with Weeks, Carlton left the building to get some air. He then re-entered the Capitol with Weeks, walking through the Crypt all the way to the Hall of Columns on the south side of the Capitol. The two men left the building around 3:30 and lingered on the northwest terrace until at least 3:52.
According to court papers, the FBI’s investigation of Weeks led them to Carlton. An agent first interviewed Carlton with a phone call on Jan. 20, 2021, when the Raiford man denied entering the Capitol, and told the agent he and Weeks were separated for about 20 minutes during the chaos.
“Carlton stated that upon reuniting with Weeks, the two left the area and traveled by Metro back to their hotel,” according to an arrest warrant. “Carlton further stated neither he nor Weeks took part in any property destruction, violence or confrontation with police.”
However, the day after the telephone call, during an in-person interview with agents, Carlton admitted to entering the building.
“When asked about his lie that he had not entered the Capitol,” the warrant says, “Carlton indicated that he was embarrassed to have participated in the demonstration, appalled by the riot, and just wanted to distance himself from it.”
Agents also retrieved text messages between the two men from Weeks’s phone, in which Carlton told the Macclenny man he was inside the building.
Agents also found photos on Weeks’s phone of Carlton wearing a tan jacket with silver buttons. They used the images to identify the Raiford man on Capital surveillance video, showing Carlton walking in the building’s crypt, a room underneath the rotunda.
