WASHINGTON — A Lorain County man is facing more than two years in prison for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
On Tuesday, 23-year-old Clifford Mackrell of Wellington was sentenced to 27 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. He was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Mackrell pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers on Oct. 13, 2023.
According to the Justice Department, Clifford Mackrell and his father, Michael Mackrell, traveled to Washington D.C. to take part in former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally. Following the rally, the Mackrells marched to the U.S. Capitol, where Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory.
The two men were wearing protective gear, including gas masks, bandanas, heavy gloves, and carrying backpacks.
The FBI says that in various footage and pictures taken during the assault, Clifford Mackrell can be seen on the front lines of the police barricades, pushing against officers in an attempt to move the boundaries. Court documents add that he also helped push a large sheet of plywood into a line of officers, which forced them off their protective line. When the plywood fell, Michael Mackrell pushed an officer to the ground, and Clifford pushed other police officers in the police line.
Authorities say Clifford Mackrell also was violently pulling at an officer's gas mask. "During one such assault, Clifford reached under an officer's riot shield and grabbed at the officer's face and eyes. The officer can be heard screaming in agony on a body-worn camera during the assault," the DOJ added in a press release.
The FBI found that Clifford Mackrell had posted the following message on Facebook on the day of the assault:
"Hey libtards and conservatives let’s stop fighting for a minute so I was thinking you libtards think the government was corrupt in 2016 right well I’ve thought they were corrupted for a very long time now how about we get rid of all of them because well it is out literal job as american’s to kill the tyrannical government. Also (expletive) all news stations.”
Agents were first able to identify Clifford Mackrell on Feb. 7, 2021, after a tipster told officials that they recognized an unknown man in the photo below, and said that he had graduated from Wellington High School in 2018.
The FBI arrested Clifford Mackrell on March 17, 2021, in Wellington. He was charged with the following:
- Forcibly Assault, Resist, Oppose, Impede, Intimidate, or Interfere with Certain Officers or Employees
- Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority with Intent to Impede or Disrupt the Orderly Conduct of Government Business or Official Functions
- Obstruction of Law Enforcement During Civil Disorder
- Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds.
Clifford Mackrell pleaded guilty to the count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers on Oct. 20, 2023. On that same day, Michael Mackrell also pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. Michael Mackrell will be sentenced by Judge Kollar-Kotelly on March 18.
According to the Justice Department, in the 37 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,300 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.