Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 54
- Location
- Canton, Ohio
- Charges
- Civil Disorder; Obstruction of an Official Proceeding; 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; Disorderly Conduct in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building; False Statement to Federal Agent
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Dismissed in part or full; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
Four different witnesses turned John Douglas Wright in to the FBI for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot after seeing videos and posts on Wright's Facebook page that indicated that he was there that day. The FBI later obtained a search warrant, which gave them access to Wright's Facebook messages. In them, he referred multiple times to a need for "war." Just after midnight on the day the riot would take place, he wrote: "THE FIRST MISTAKE THEY MAKE IN CHAMBERS WE ARE GOING IN AND DRAG THEM OUT." He referred in another message to the events that would unfold later that day as the "First battle." Around 1:30 a.m. ET that morning, another individual messaged Wright that lawmakers would likely try to escape through the Capitol's tunnels and that "People need to find the tunnel exits and get them." To that, Wright replied "DONE ... ALL PLANNED OUT." The next day, Wright was interviewed by the Canton Repository. He told the paper: "It's not about overthrowing the government. It's about creating a new party."
Case History
Wright pleaded Guilty to one charge: Obstruction of an Official Proceeding. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on 3/6/2023 to 49 Months incarceration; Supervised Release of 36 Months; Special Assessment of $100; restitution of $2,000. Wright received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR - Supporting Reporting
NPR video evidence pageNPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.