Missouri man who stole baton, fought with police during Capitol riot gets prison time
A Missouri man who struggled with police and stole one officer’s baton during the Capitol riot was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 2½ years in prison and two years’ supervised release.
Cale Douglas Clayton, of Drexel, also must pay $2,000 restitution toward the nearly $2.9 million in losses the government said were suffered as a result of the riot. The sentencing hearing was held in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, was the toughest to date of the Missouri defendants charged in Jan. 6 cases.
The government described Clayton’s offenses as “very serious.”
“Clayton’s criminal conduct on January 6 — taunting and assaulting police officers, trying to steal their riot shields and stealing their baton — was the epitome of disrespect for the law,” it said in a sentencing document filed with the court last week.
Clayton pleaded guilty in March to two felony counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers. He faced a maximum eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each offense. The government had recommended a sentence of 33 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $2,000 restitution.
Lamberth sentenced Clayton to two-and-a-half years’ incarceration on each count but ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
The 42-year-old carpenter is among 28 Missouri residents charged in connection with the Capitol riot. Of those, 17 have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced, four have pleaded guilty and await sentencing and one has an upcoming trial. The cases of six others are ongoing.
Clayton was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2022 on numerous counts: assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; civil disorder; theft of government property; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and an act of physical violence within the Capitol grounds or buildings.
The Justice Department dropped the other charges in exchange for his guilty plea on the two felony counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
In its sentencing memorandum, the government said Clayton traveled to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally in support of former President Donald Trump. After the rally on Jan. 6, he went to the Capitol.
By 2:53 p.m., the document said, Clayton had worked his way to the west side of the Capitol, above the inaugural stage in front of the grandstands, where Metropolitan Police Department body-worn camera video showed him taunting and pointing at officers.
As police cleared rioters from the area minutes later, the sentencing document said, “Clayton yelled at them, ‘We are going to win. You don’t have enough for all of us. You might hit me once or twice. You might spray me with pepper spray. I don’t give a f—. There ain’t enough for millions of people here and you know it.’”
By 3:13 p.m., Clayton had moved underneath the grandstands and could be seen on video harassing officers, the document said.
From 3:19 p.m. to 3:26 p.m., it said, Clayton yelled at officers. Among his comments: “You guys are losing a lot of bodies. We’re coming in, one way or another, we’re coming in,” and “Get that pepper spray out, you don’t have enough. You fired the first shot. Keep that door open, we’re coming through right there.”
Clayton also yelled, “Tip of the iceberg, what side of history are you on? The revolution is already happening. You are just a little speed bump in our way. It’s happening,” according to the sentencing document.
Clayton left the area under the grandstands shortly after 3:30 p.m., it said, then moved to the Upper West Terrace. At 4:23, p.m., he resisted officers’ attempts to disperse the rioters, grabbing and pulling the shield of a Montgomery County police officer, the document said.
Moments later, it said, Clayton grabbed the shield again and pushed on it. As another officer tried to move rioters out, his police baton fell to the ground, and when he tried to retrieve it, Clayton beat him to it. The incident was captured on a body-worn camera.
Clayton then confronted an Arlington County Police Department officer who was separated from the police line and being shoved by rioters, the sentencing document said. He could be seen on a video grabbing and pulling the officer’s police shield.
Clayton left the Upper West Terrace at 4:25 p.m., the document said, but did not exit the Capitol grounds.
“Instead, he returned up the northwest stairs at 4:28 p.m., proudly carrying Officer J.B.’s police baton,” it said, referring to a Montgomery County police officer. “Clayton then walked in front of the police line that was attempting to clear the area. As he walked, he flaunted the stolen police baton.”
The government’s filing included a screenshot from a police body-worn camera showing Clayton holding the baton.
Montgomery County Police Lt. M.P. saw Clayton with the baton and asked him for it, the document said, but Clayton refused to hand it over. The officer then grabbed the baton.
“In the ensuing struggle, Clayton shoved Lt. M.P. in the head and grabbed his face mask,” it said. “...Clayton refused to relinquish the police baton, and as a result, Lt. M.P. pulled Clayton through the police line. Police officers arrested Clayton and held him in the Capitol Rotunda. Later that day, he was released without charges.”
In March 2021, the FBI interviewed Clayton at his home in Drexel, which is south of Kansas City in Cass and Bates counties along the state line. Clayton admitted he was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the document said, but lied when he said he did not riot or engage in violence.
Clayton also falsely described his theft of the police baton, the government said, telling the FBI that as he left the Capitol, he saw an officer lose it.
“Clayton said that he picked it up and approached the police line to return it because Clayton did not want the baton to be used against police,” the document said. “Clayton said the police arrested him because he did not have his hands up as he approached the police line.
“This falsehood,” the government said, “is belied by video.”
