Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 43
- Location
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Charges
- Civil Disorder; Entering or Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Dismissed in part or full; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
A week after the Capitol insurrection, a witness reached out to the FBI reporting they saw a video posted on Michael Asbury’s Facebook page depicting him on Capitol grounds. A couple of days later, FBI agents interviewed Asbury at his residence. According to court documents he admitted to attending the rally for former President Donald Trump and having moved with the crowd to the Capitol, but denied entering the building or committing violence. However, when agents reviewed USCP surveillance footage and MPD body-worn camera footage, Asbury can be seen repeatedly engaging in violent and obstructive conduct against multiple officers inside the tunnel of the Capitol. According to the FBI, Asbury can be seen moving shields away from officers, engaging in multiple heave-ho efforts and even at one point passing to another man a functional stun gun. On January 7, 2021, he wrote on Facebook: “I shook hands with the officer who peppered me. He seemed nice.” “Btw, today wasn't about you. It was about our constitution.” “We sent a fucking message today. You should be thanking us”. [sic]
Case History
Asbury pleaded Guilty to one charge: Civil Disorder. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on 8/26/2024 to 4 months of incarceration; 24 months of supervised release with 120 days location monitoring; Special Assessment of $100; Restitution of $2,000; 60 hours of community service. Asbury 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
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.