(AFP) – A Tennessee man who plotted to kill FBI agents who investigated his role in the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Edward Kelley, 36, was convicted by a jury in November of conspiracy to murder federal employees and other charges.
Kelley planned to attack the FBI office in the Tennessee city of Knoxville using car bombs and incendiary devices attached to drones, and assassinate FBI employees in their homes or in public places, according to the Justice Department. “Kelley developed a ‘kill list’ of law enforcement and distributed the list — along with videos containing images of his targets — to a co-conspirator,” the department said in a statement.
Kelley was among the more than 1,500 people pardoned by Trump who were convicted or facing charges over the January 6, 2021 attack on Congress. He was among the first rioters to enter the Capitol building and was convicted of assaulting police officers, destroying government property, and other charges.
Kelley’s lawyer argued ahead of his trial for the murder plot that Trump’s pardon should also apply to the charges in the case, but prosecutors rejected the claim. “The defendant’s conduct in this case was unrelated in both time and place to the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol,” they said in a court filing. “This case is about the defendant’s entirely independent criminal conduct in Tennessee, in late 2022, more than 500 miles away from the Capitol: threatening, soliciting, and conspiring to murder agents, officers, and employees of the FBI.”
© 2024 AFP
