WASHINGTON — He’s been called a "traitor" and a "hero," but January 6 defendant Ronald McAbee hopes a jury will call him "innocent."
The former Williamson County Sheriff’s deputy is on trial for assaulting a U.S. Capitol police officer among other charges, but maintains he was trying to help officers during the January 6th breach of the Capitol.
Body-cam video from that day is being used to prosecute McAbee, but he and his supporters believe some of these same videos will prove McAbee’s innocence.
Both McAbee and his wife Sarah spoke on the conservative talk show Cowboy Logic earlier this year, as they detailed their argument.
They said the video will show McAbee shielding a fallen officer, before eventually giving CPR to an unconscious protester.
McAbee pleaded guilty in September to a felony charge of assaulting an officer and one misdemeanor count of acts of physical violence on Capitol grounds. But wanted to take his other five charges - including assault of another officer and disorderly conduct - to trial.
“Every single angle of these videos they are using against me will exonerate me,” McAbee said.
We’ve taken each of the videos provided by the courts and pieced them together. Some of which we’re not even certain the jury will see or hear at trial. An earlier motion attempted to block certain videos attorneys thought were irrelevant to the charges on trial.
Early on we see McAbee pick up a baton as he watches others force officers to the ground and beat them with whatever they could find.
We don’t know what McAbee planned on doing with the baton, but seconds later he sees a Capitol officer dragged into the crowd and assaulted. We then see McAbee tug at a fallen officer, but he says he was only trying to help the officer get back on their feet.
Capitol officers saw what looked like a hostile act from another rioter and shoved McAbee, who shoved back. McAbee can be seen throwing a punch while wearing steel-reinforced gloves.
The entire altercation lasted only seconds before McAbee returned to the fallen officer. This time both men slid down the stairs.
McAbee appears to then shield the officer as protestors move in. We can hear McAbee shouting “no” for several seconds before the officer gets back up.
The next time we see McAbee, he’s carrying an unconscious Rosanne Boyland to the Capitol entrance and attempts CPR.
Capitol officers eventually take the woman inside. We now know she died from her injuries.
“I watched her sit there, and the life fade from her, and I can never get that out of my mind,” McAbee said.
McAbee stood dazed and confused before we heard one officer thank him twice.
“Hey, thank you, man. I appreciate you,” the officer said.
Officers would deploy even more pepper spray, to which McAbee can be heard saying, “Don’t spray me. I’m not freaking hurting anybody.”
Protesters responded by storming the line with discarded riot shields, eventually pinning McAbee against the officers.
The same officer who earlier thanked McAbee can now be heard offering to help.
“I got you alright,” the officer said.
“I think I just broke my f******* shoulder,” McAbee said.
“If you want time to chill out, we got you, man,” the officer responded.
McAbee asks if he could go inside the Capitol and gestures at his “sheriff’s” patch.
That’s where the video ends and the debate begins.
“Once you see these videos and you hear the audio, you wonder why someone like that is sitting in jail,” Sarah said.
Some have called McAbee’s actions nothing short of heroic. Others see a now-former deputy who traveled more than 10 hours dressed in tactical gear, anticipating a fight with whoever stood in his way.
McAbee's wife Sarah is a self-described “J6 Political Prisoner Wife” who has since raised more than $75,000 after co-founding a group for January 6th defendants. She’s done talk shows around the country and even spoken to lawmakers about the husband she knows and you’ve only read about.
“They’ve just painted him this monster and that’s just not who I know,” Sarah said.
In the video, you can see McAbee wearing a patch with the Roman numeral “III” encircled in stars, which is a symbol of the far-right Three Percenters.
To our knowledge, McAbee hasn’t disavowed those who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6. Instead, he has focused his attention on what he considers an unfair justice system where you’re presumed guilty until you prove otherwise.
“The government has done a great job scaring the people. I know most people won’t even touch our cases anymore. The jury has already found us guilty and the judges have already made up their minds. It’s okay for Antifa or BLM to burn down our cities, but when we knock on the people’s houses when we knock on the door, it’s an act of terrorism? Come on. Get out of here. We are being abused by the justice system,” McAbee said.
McAbee has been in custody ever since his arrest but could face a maximum term of eight years in prison for the one felony assault charge alone.
More than 1,100 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the Capitol breach, including more than 396 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
Anyone with tips for the ongoing investigation into these crimes can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
