Ex-Army soldier charged in Capitol riot was convicted of manslaughter for killing Iraqi man in 2004
A former U.S. Army soldier convicted of manslaughter in Iraq for fatally shooting a handcuffed civilian in Iraq was arrested Monday on charges that he assaulted police officers with a baton during the three-year insurrection at the U.S. Capitol past.
Edward Richmond Jr., 40, of Geismar, Louisiana, was wearing a helmet, shoulder pads, goggles and a Louisiana state flag patch on his chest when he attacked police in a tunnel outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to an Affidavit statement from the FBI agent.
Richmond was arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and will make his first court appearance Tuesday on charges including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or obstructing police with a dangerous weapon.
Louisiana-based Richmond attorney John McLindon said he had not seen the charging documents and therefore could not immediately comment on the case.
Richmond was 20 when an army court-martial convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced him to three years in prison for killing the handcuffed Iraqi civilian near Taal Al Jai in February 2004. Richmond was also given a dishonorable discharge from the army.
Richmond was initially charged with unpremeditated murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. But the panel of five officers and five enlisted men reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter.
The army said Richmond shot Muhamad Husain Kadir, a cow herder, in the back of the head from about two meters away after the man stumbled. Richmond testified that he did not know Kadir was handcuffed and believed the Iraqi man would harm a fellow soldier.
During the Jan. 6 riot, CCTV captured Richmond repeatedly attacking police officers with a black baton in a tunnel on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, the FBI said. Police struggled for hours to prevent the crowd of Donald Trump supporters from entering the Capitol through the same tunnel entrance.
A witness helped the FBI identify Richmond as someone who had traveled to Washington, D.C., along with several other people to serve as a “security team” for the witness for meetings scheduled for Jan. 6, according to the agent’s statement.
More than 1,200 people have been charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot. About 900 have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials. More than 750 people have been convicted, with nearly 500 receiving prison sentences, according to data compiled by The Associated Press.