Former Sheriff’s Deputy Ronald McAbee Found Guilty by a Jury on Five Jan. 6 Counts

Ronald Colton McAbee shouts at rioters who try to grab at Metropolitan Police Department Officer Andrew Wayte at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Metropolitan Police Department/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Former Tennessee sheriff’s deputy Ronald Colton McAbee was found guilty on all five felony counts he faced before a federal jury in Washington D.C., including a hotly contested charge of assaulting a law enforcement officer at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mr. McAbee, 29, of Unionville, Tennessee, was found guilty of inflicting bodily injury on Metropolitan Police Department Officer Andrew Wayte, civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

A pair of motorcycle gloves with carbon-reinforced fingers and knuckles led to the dangerous weapon charges. Mr. McAbee said he brought the gloves in case of attacks by Antifa and never used them against anyone.

The jury verdicts came despite Mr. Wayte’s own bodycam video, in which Mr. McAbee said he was a law enforcement officer and offered to help Mr. Wayte to his feet.

Sarah McAbee called the verdicts against her husband “such an injustice.”

“My heart is broken, but we will overcome,” Ms. McAbee told The Epoch Times.

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“Injustice comes with a heavy cost, and today, we witnessed it firsthand as Colton was convicted by a jury that was not of his peers—a jury biased as they are named ‘victims’ of January 6,” Ms. McAbee wrote on X. “This happened despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence.”

One prominent defense attorney who once represented Mr. McAbee condemned the guilty verdicts.

“This was a young man DOING THE RIGHT THING—FOR THE BENEFIT OF A POLICE OFFICER,” William Shipley wrote on X. “The judge must correct this horrendous miscarriage of justice.”

Mr. Shipley noted the unanimous guilty rate in the Jan. 6 jury trials in the District of Columbia.

Ronald Colton McAbee was a sheriff's deputy in Williamson County, Tenn., until shortly after Jan. 6, 2021. (Courtesy of Sarah McAbee)

“I would be getting 50% ‘not guilty’ verdicts in W. Virginia,” Mr. Shipley wrote. “Yet DOJ gets 100% guilty verdicts in D.C. This is a case where a not-guilty verdict would have been a near certainty. That the Biden Justice Dept would do this is [a] voting issue.”

Mr. McAbee’s case revolved around the entrance to the Lower West Terrace tunnel, the site of the worst violence by rioters and police on Jan. 6. His confrontations with police took place while an unconscious, dying Rosanne Boyland lay on her side just feet away.

On Mr. Wayte’s bodycam, Mr. McAbee appears to be shielding the officer after both men were pulled down the concrete steps at the tunnel entrance.

According to the bodycam video shown at trial, Mr. McAbee asked Mr. Wayte, “You ready?” Mr. Wayte said, “Let go of me, man,” to which Mr. McAbee replied, “I’m trying to help you.”

Mr. Wayte then said, “I know, I know. Help me up,” according to the video.

The defense also showed the jury bodycam video in which MPD Officer Steven Sajumon thanked Mr. McAbee for helping the police. “We appreciate you, man,” Mr. Sajumon said.

While Mr. McAbee was on top of Mr. Wayte, bystanders called him a traitor, ostensibly for helping the officer. When someone in the crowd tried to grab Mr. Wayte, Mr. McAbee bellowed, “No!” and “Quit!”

“At that point, my husband just saw an officer down and an officer needing help, because the first thing he says, when he pops in around the tunnel before he gets around the rail is, ‘Hey, you guys have a man down,’” Ms. McAbee told The Epoch Times in July 2022. “They literally did nothing to help that guy. So he’s the one who jumped into action.”

Tennessee sheriff's deputy Ronald Colton McAbee bellows at rioters not to attack Metropolitan Police Department Officer Andrew Wayte, whom he was shielding. (Metropolitan Police Department/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

In the same case, Mr. McAbee pleaded guilty on Sept. 25 to one felony count of assaulting or resisting a police officer and a misdemeanor count of an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.

Mr. McAbee was seen on video swiping at or attempting to shove Metropolitan Police Department Officer Carter Moore after the officer pushed against Mr. McAbee’s broken shoulder at the mouth of the tunnel.

The video also showed Mr. McAbee reacting in anger at officers after being struck on the head with a police riot stick.

Open-source videos show Mr. McAbee attempting to render aid after Ms. Boyland was pulled away from the tunnel mouth, where she had just been beaten with a wooden walking stick by MPD Officer Lila Morris.

A short time later, Mr. McAbee helped carry Ms. Boyland back to the police line, where he began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). As Ms. Boyland was being pulled inside the Capitol, Mr. McAbee shouted, “Get a medic!”