NC man said he was in Capitol ‘to kick ass and take names later.’ Now he faces prison
Days before his trial on Capitol riot-related charges was to begin, Johnny Harris changed legal strategies and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
That removed the Shelby resident’s need to prepare a defense, whatever that defense might have been.
Harris, like hundreds of other rioters, is charged with disorderly and disruptive behavior on the grounds of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. What sets him apart, however, is that the documentary, “January 6th,” clearly places him at the scene of his crime.
While being interviewed inside the Rotunda on the day of the riot by a French film crew, Harris summed up the perceived grievances of hundreds of other rioters alongside.
“Excuse me, what are you trying to do?” the reporter asked him in one memorable exchange.
Harris, appearing startled at first, turns to the reporter and photographer:
“Kick ass and take names later!” he says, before quickly walking back the threat of violence.
“We’re not here to hurt anybody ... We’re just here to let you know that there are a million of us or more out there who will come through this building if necessary.”
Harris is one of at least 26 N.C. residents charged in the violent siege of the Capitol. Thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump, fueled by the Republican’s baseless claims of a stolen election, battled police, broke out windows and doors, and left millions of dollars in damages to perhaps the country’s landmark government building.
Five deaths have been linked to the violence, and some 140 police officers were injured. Almost 1,000 arrests have been made.
Harris pleaded guilty Feb. 22. In Monday emails to The Charlotte Observer, Harris’ attorneys, Sam Randall of Charlotte and Kira West of Washington, declined comment.
According to his plea documents, Harris, dressed in a Trump bandana and matching red, white and blue clothing, used his cell phone and GoPro camera to film his time inside and outside the Capitol on Jan. 6.
He also carried a megaphone and used it inside the building to start a call-and-response chant with other rioters: Whose house? Our house.
When asked by a reporter if he was inside the Capitol to disrupt the congressional vote to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral win over Trump, Harris first said no, then quickly confessed.
“Oh yeah, we’re trying to upset their decision. We’re trying to make them make the right decision,” he said, according to a government filing in his case.
Harris also said he wasn’t leaving until Trump was officially seated for a second term.
“Donald Trump won this election. By far. We’re not gonna let it be stolen from us,” he said. “Donald Trump is our president and he will be re-elected, and the rest of them will go to jail.”
Good to his word, Harris stayed put as long as he could. When police reinforcements flowed into the Rotunda around 3 p.m. that day, the Cleveland County resident repeatedly approached the line of officers but was rebuffed and directed toward the exits, court filings show.
At one point, Harris dropped his phone, reached to get it, then pushed an officer, documents claim. He later told another cop that he wanted to stay in the building long enough to retrieve his megaphone and his American flag. He eventually left the Capitol around 3:30 p.m., one of the last rioters to do so, the government says.
The FBI arrested Harris in North Carolina two months later. Shelby is 45 miles west of Charlotte.
He faces eight to 14 months in prison — on the higher end of the punishment scale for a misdemeanor charge in the sprawling Jan. 6 prosecution. As part of the plea agreement, the government dropped three other misdemeanor charges. Harris joins some 375 Capitol defendants who have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss of Washington, D.C., an Obama appointee, will make the final decision on Harris’ punishment June 2.
This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 11:04 AM.
