MS Coast business owner, others receive pardons from President Trump over Jan. 6 riot
A South Mississippi business owner convicted of one of four misdemeanor federal offenses in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is among the 1,500 other individuals that President Donald Trump has pardoned.
A jury in Washington, D.C., in October, convicted James Allen Knowles, the owner of Knowles Construction, Inc., in Saucier, of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. In that case, the jury found that Knowles entered the Capitol through the Parliamentarian door after watching another rioter “violently breach that door with a cane.”
The jury acquitted Knowles, 63, of three misdemeanor charges of disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in the Capitol building or grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing on Capitol grounds.
Knowles had been set for sentencing later this week in the District of Columbia.
Storming through the Capitol door
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According to the criminal complaint, a review of video obtained by federal investigators showed Knowles on Capitol Police security camera footage and in public photos and videos entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
He entered the Parliamentarian Door at 2:48 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, and was seen leaving two minutes later, at 2:50 p.m.
In addition, authorities said they traced three calls Knowles made to cell towers in Washington D.C. and determined he made one call to U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker’s office, a second call to U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s office and a third call from a pizza restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue on the same day as the riot.
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Knowles denied any criminal wrongdoing from the time of his arrest.
The Sun Herald reached out to defense attorney Gregory Smith for comment.
Smith pointed out that his client had been acquitted of three charges and said he’d contact Knowles to see if he had any additional comments, but Knowles has not responded.
Mississippi authorities arrested Knowles in August 2023 after authorities identified him on the Capitol grounds from videos and pictures taken there, authorities said.
When Knowles appeared in court immediately after his arrest in Mississippi, he told a judge, “It is what it is. It’s all about money.”
Other cases involving Mississippi residents
Here’s a look at some of the other Mississippi residents benefiting from the pardons:
- Donald Walker, of Kosciusko, was indicted on a felony charge of the obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining and disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds and parading, picketing, and demonstrating and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. According to the Department of Justice, Walton is captured on a police body camera putting his arm between the bars of a bike barricade and pulling it forward toward him as officers try to defend the police and gain control of the barricade. A short time after, authorities sprayed Walton with a chemical spray, resulting in his brief retreat before he went back to the barricade and attempted to wrestle it away from an officer.
- Toney “Sheldon” Bray and his son, Ethan Bray, of Blue Springs, were arrested on charges of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Toney Bray was arrested on an additional charge of theft of government property. The father and son climbed over the police barriers and were among the first to confront law enforcement on the staircase under scaffolding leading from the West Plaza to the Lower West Terrace at the Capitol. According to authorities, they entered the Capitol Senate Wing Door and moved toward the Crypt, as captured on Capitol CCTV footage. At the time they entered the Capitol, the Brays were wearing gas masks.
- James McGrew, of Biloxi, is a former U.S. Marine who spent time at Camp Lejeune military base in North Carolina, who received a 78-month prison sentence for assaulting law enforcement officers during the Capitol breach. Authorities identified him by matching up a video of his stomach tattoo that read, “KING JAMES,” from his time at the Capitol to pictures taken of him during a prior arrest.
He is one of many rioters who overwhelmed law enforcement in attempting to prevent the crowd from advancing onto the Capitol grounds. He entered the Capitol through terrace doors, shooting video of the scene, and subsequently assaulted officers. In one example, authorities said he used a wooden handrail with metal brackets as tall as he was to strike an officer. At one point, while inside the Capitol, a police officer told McGrew, “Just leave, man, come on,” according to the criminal complaint. McGrew screamed back, “You leave. You leave. This is our house.”
- David Scott Stapp is a U.S. Air Force Reserve veteran who spent most of his military career as a pilot and technician in the reserve’s 403rd Wing stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. He was identified as a member of the mob that stormed the Capitol during the attempted insurrection. According to authorities, airline and hotel records confirmed Stapp traveled to Washington D.C. on Jan. 5, 2021, and returned to Mississippi on Jan. 7, 2021. Stapp is among those who gave television interviews outside the Capitol before the riot and is later captured in pictures there, wearing a beanie cap that included the words “Legalize freedom.”
- Thomas Eugene Tatum, of Greenville, was arrested on a felony charge of civil disorder and misdemeanor charges for entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds. Tatum is identified in pictures on the Lower West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol grounds on the day of the riot. He is caught on body camera footage berating and taunting police officers as they tried to keep rioters from advancing on the U.S. Capitol. According to authorities, he could be seen face-to-face with uniformed officers at various times and could be heard urging fellow rioters to take officers’ helmets, weapons, and heads. He was also captured in the footage pointing a flagpole he was carrying at officers, ultimately contributing to the officers’ retreat.
- Michael Leon Brock, of Walls, was arrested on federal charges of assaulting, restricting and impeding officers and obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder for his action in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. In police body-worn camera footage, Brock was captured charging at law enforcement officers while holding what appeared to be a long to be a four-foot-long rod as officers attempted to control the crowd. In the footage, he is captured pushing and striking officers with the rod.
Thomas Harlen Smith, of Mathiston, was convicted of federal felony and misdemeanor offenses and sentenced to prison for his role in the Capitol riot. He and a cousin from Alabama climbed up a column near the African American History Museum holding an “outdated” Mississippi state flag, a release said. When the cousins arrived in the restricted Capitol, they followed other rioters in climbing the scaffolding set up around the stage for the presidential inauguration. The two men then climbed the structure and made their way toward to the Capitol, where Smith used a flagpole “like a spear” to try to shatter glass before later allegedly assaulting officers..
