Ohio pastor guilty of Jan. 6 Capitol breach charges
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WASHINGTON D.C. (WCMH) – A Muskingum County pastor has been found guilty of charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden as President.
William Dunfee, 58, of Frazeysburg, was found guilty Monday of two felony charges of obstruction of an official proceeding and abetting and civil disorder and a misdemeanor charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. He was arrested in October 2022.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbus, said Dunfee is the founder and pastor of the New Beginnings Ministry Warsaw in Warsaw, Ohio. On Dec. 27, 2020, Dunfee posted a video on the church’s Facebook page.
According to the attorney’s office, Dunfee is quoted as saying, “The Government, the tyrants, the socialists, the Marxists, the progressives, the RINOs, they fear you. And they should. Our problem is we haven’t given them reason to fear us.”
He is quoted later, saying, “As I said earlier in another previous sermon is this, they used to tell us, you know what, you settle your differences at the ballot. How did that work out for us? It’s not over.” He added, “January 4th through 6th … Are you ready?”
After entering the Capitol grounds, Dunfee used a bullhorn to rile up the crowd, saying, “This election has been stolen right out from underneath of our noses and it is time for the American people to rise up. Rise up. Rise up. Today is the day in which it is that these elected officials realize that we are no longer playing games. That we are not sheeple that are just going to be corralled according to their whims and their wills.”
Dunfee twice pushed a metal barricade against U.S. Capitol Police officers, the attorney’s office said. While others breached the Capitol building, Dunfee stayed outside but still in the area, telling people leaving the building, “Mission accomplished.”
Dunfee is a member of the Salt and Light Brigade, a pro-Christian movement that vows to “defend the Judeo-Christian worldview” and take “the fight to the enemy.”
The Salt and Light Brigade is part of Pass the Salt Ministries, an Ohio-based charity that has offered armed tactical training to members.
Dunfee is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24.
Since January 2021, 1,265 people have been charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection, with more than 440 of those being charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.