WASHINGTON D.C. — A former 3rd Special Forces Group soldier accused of assaulting officers with a flagpole during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot is blaming President Joe Biden for impacting his ability to receive a fair trial.  

Jeffrey McKellop, 57, is a decorated Army veteran and previously served with the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg.  

In a Sept. 8 motion, McKellop seeks to have his case dismissed because President Joe Biden “has intentionally and irreparably poisoned the entire nation as a jury pool.”  

McKellop points to Biden’s Sept. 1 address as an example.  

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During his remarks from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the president said of Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again supporters that “MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”  

Biden said not all Republicans are “MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology."

MAGA Republicans, he said, "do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law."

“They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots," he said.

McKellop argues that Biden's speech inflamed the entire nation by assuring that "Trump and the MAGA Republicans are a clear and present danger to our democracy."  

According to a Feb. 14 grand jury indictment, McKellop is charged with: 

He pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

The government argues in opposition to the motion that McKellop has failed to establish that he can not receive a fair and impartial trial in D.C. or elsewhere in the U.S.  

McKellop is accused of entering the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, with flagpoles, a helmet, tactical vest, protective eyewear and gas mask and remaining in the area 90 minutes after police told the crowd to leave.  

The government alleges that McKellop threw objects at officers three times from 1:02 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. before pressing toward the police line and scaffolding near the southwest area of the capitol.  There, he is accused of trying to grab a can of riot-control spray from a lieutenant’s hand, throwing a bottle at a line of officers, grabbing another officer, striking a sergeant and assaulting another officer by shoving her to the side.  

At one point, McKellop appeared to assist an officer who fell to the ground, then allegedly struck a captain in the face, causing lacerations and scarring, and allegedly threw a flagpole "as though it were a spear" at the captain.  

McKellop also allegedly attacked from behind another officer attempting to contain rioters and he threw another object at officers, the government said.  

McKellop, who retired from the Army on Aug. 12, 2010, while at Fort Bragg, served more than 20 years in the Army, including nine years with Special Forces and served with Fort Bragg's 3rd Special Forces Group, his military records show.   

In one of four motions requesting release from pretrial detention, McKellop states he served nearly 22 years in active-duty service and about a year in inactive service.   

The motion notes McKellop’s military decorations, including three Bronze Stars, and states he deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan.    

McKellop said he was unarmed and did not intend on rioting when he traveled to Washington, D.C., to the Jan. 6 rally for then-President Donald Trump with a friend.   

In a letter included in the record, the friend who accompanied McKellop, Scott Steiert, said McKellop was concerned that “anti-Trumpers” would attack him for his political views.   

Steiert said McKellop brought his body armor with him as a defense against “any attack possibly from anti-Trumpers.”    

“The strength of Mr. McKellop’s character is shown through his extensive and distinguished military service, his cooperation with the FBI as relates to his arrest, his lack of criminal record, his lack of involvement in (organizing) the riot, and his willingness to surrender himself and potential evidence,” the motion says. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips said that “despite many opportunities to reconsider his actions," McKellop continued his alleged assault.   

"Jeffrey McKellop, weaponized his extensive military training and experience to attack the U.S. Capitol and facilitate its breach during Constitutional proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021,” Phillips wrote. 

In a March 27 motion for a change of venue, McKellop sought to move his trial out of Washington D.C.   

McKellop claimed he would not receive a fair trial and impartial jury there because about “93% of voters in Washington voted against Donald Trump” and because of the media coverage of the events surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, and related arrests, criminal charges and prosecutions.   

“The antipathy towards Donald Trump and his supporters in the District is obvious,” the motion says.   

McKellop suggested the trial be moved to the Western District of Virginia.   

“Residents of western Virginia have not been warned that domestic terrorists are threatening their hometown, nor is the area overrun by D.C. politics,” the motion stated.   

In a Sept. 26 reply to the government’s opposition to the dismissal, McKellop said that potential jury members were “exhorted to hate” the Jan. 6 defendants by President Joe Biden.  

Again referencing Biden’s Jan. 1 speech, McKellop said that “the president’s poisoning of the jury pool has obstructed the conduct of an impartial trial.”  

“The charges against the defendant should be dismissed,” the defense wrote.  

McKellop’s March request for a change of venue is pending.  

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The government argued in its response that there is “no reason to believe” that 12 impartial jurors in D.C. or the nation can’t be found, noting a legal known as “voir dire” affords both the defense and prosecution the ability to screen potential jury members and reach an agreement about who will serve on the jury.  

“After a careful voir dire, this court can select a jury from those residents who either did not watch the president’s remarks or who, despite having watched the remarks, give adequate assurances of their impartiality,” the response said.  

The trial is set for Feb. 14. 

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-385-3528.