Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 34
- Location
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Charges
- Civil Disorder; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers; 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 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
According to court documents, Michael Tyler Roberts asked for last-minute vacation time from his workplace for January 5 through 7, 2021, and subsequently traveled from Tennessee to Washington, D.C., along with Ronald Colton McAbee, who would later be arrested in August, 2021, and charged with assaulting a federal officer during the Jan. 6 riots. Roberts was identified in videos from the Capitol grounds by a distinctive red sweatshirt with "MAGA" written in large white letters on the front. He was allegedly seen on closed-circuit television at 3:54 pm on Jan. 6 at the mouth of a tunnel leading into the Capitol building, pushing and grappling with officers blocking the entrance.
Case History
Roberts pleaded Guilty to one charge: Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on 12/6/2024 to 15 months incarceration; 36 months of supervised release; $2,000 in restitution; $100 special assessment. Roberts 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.