A Florida woman was found guilty in the District of Columbia of multiple felony charges for her actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Her actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
Audrey Ann Southard-Rumsey, of Spring Hill, Florida, was found guilty of three counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, three counts of civil disorder, and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, all felonies. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 3, 2023.
According to court documents, Southard-Rumsey was at the front of the group that breached the Capitol on the East Front. She encountered a Capitol Police officer on the stairs leading to the building and tried to rip his shield out of his hands. According to law enforcement, she entered the Capitol building through the east Rotunda door at approximately 2:26pm on Jan. 6th. She walked to the statuary hall connector area, stopped and stood in front of a U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) sergeant and several other USCP officers standing behind him. Southard-Rumsey was captured on video yelling, “Tell Pelosi we are coming for that b****,” and “There’s a hundred thousand of us, what’s it going to be?”
At some point during her interaction with the police sergeant, Southard-Rumsey obtained a flagpole which she held in her hands and pressed against the sergeant’s chest. As alleged, Southard-Rumsey started pushing the sergeant, causing him to fall backward into the first set of doors leading to the House floor. As a result, the doors flew open and the sergeant struck the back of his head on the base of the marble Lafayette statue. At the door to the House Chamber, Southard-Rumsey yelled “Pelosi, we’re coming for you!”
Southard-Rumsey was removed from the area by officers and made her way to the Rotunda. She joined a group of individuals who, seeking access to Speaker Pelosi’s office, pushed a group of police officers down a set of stairs. She then returned to the Rotunda. When officers attempted to clear the area of unauthorized individuals, she grabbed two officers’ batons and then grasped a metal stanchion with both hands, threatening the officers nearby.
Southard-Rumsey was arrested on June 2, 2021. She faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison on the obstruction charge, as well as a statutory maximum of eight years in prison for assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, and a statutory maximum of five years in prison for civil disorder. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Tampa and Washington Field Offices, with valuable assistance provided by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police.
In the 24 months since Jan. 6, 2021, approximately 950 individuals have been arrested on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, including over 284 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
A Florida man recently pleaded guilty to a felony charge for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
