Bridgeville man expected to plead guilty next month in Capitol riot case

A Bridgeville man who authorities said livestreamed himself from inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C., is expected to plead guilty next month.

During a brief status conference on Monday, an attorney for Kenneth Grayson said he expected his client would be offered a plea agreement to only misdemeanor charges.

Attorney David Walker Bos asked U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to give him time to review such an offer more carefully and then asked that the case be scheduled for Feb. 23.

“I’m sufficiently confident to set it down as a plea hearing,” Bos said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Fedor agreed an offer had been made.

Grayson, 52, is charged with five counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding; entering a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

He was arrested Jan. 26 and was among the first in Western Pennsylvania to be charged in connection with the riot.

A criminal complaint filed against Grayson said the FBI received four tips that he had livestreamed himself, beginning at 2:22 p.m. from inside the Crypt, an area beneath the Capitol rotunda.

During a detention hearing, the FBI testified that Grayson said during an interview that he had no regrets for entering the Capitol and would do it again.

He also said that he had a need to kill people, including President Joe Biden, the FBI said.

Although initially detained, Grayson was granted bond on Feb. 10 and has remained free since then.