Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 40
- Location
- Orting, Washington
- Charges
- Robbery; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon and Aiding and Abetting; 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; Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings
- Case status
- Pleaded not guilty; Dismissed in part or full
Case Summary
Richard Slaughter is a mortgage loan officer who runs a teen center with his wife, according to the Associated Press. He was elected to his local school board in fall 2021 while running on a platform opposing masks in schools, the AP reports, but he resigned Oct. 19, 2022 after turning himself in to authorities. “It was statistically impossible to lose this election, and there is just, um, nauseating amounts of fraud, and it’s not being heard or seen," Slaughter told an interviewer on open-source video filmed at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an FBI statement of facts. Body camera footage shows Slaughter told officers guarding a tunnel entrance to the Capitol to “stand down” before he hit them repeatedly with a pole, according to court documents. Later, he was filmed passing a can of chemical spray to another co-defendant. While returning home to Washington state on an Alaska Airlines flight, court documents state Slaughter was involved in an in-flight incident "related to mask non-compliance and protesting the results of the 2020 election,” which attracted the FBI’s attention. During an interview with FBI agents in February 2021, Slaughter denied seeing any crimes committed on Jan. 6 and stated, “Conservatives don’t protest; they have jobs.” Both Slaughter and his stepson Caden Gottfried were arrested Oct. 12, 2022, in Tacoma, Wash.
Case History
Slaughter pleaded Not Guilty to all charges. Bench trial held and verdict set for 1/28/2025. On 1/21/2025, the court grants the government's motion to dismiss the case with prejudice.
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.