Ex-funeral home owner pleads guilty to assaulting police and journalists during Capitol riot

Source: Yahoo! News/AP

Updated Thu, October 17, 2024 at 1:42 PM EDT


WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Long Island funeral home owner pleaded guilty on Thursday to spraying wasp killer at police officers and assaulting two journalists, including an Associated Press photographer, during a mob's riot at the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago.

Peter Moloney, 60, of Bayport, New York, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 11 by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. Moloney answered the judge's routine questions as he pleaded guilty to two assault charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, siege at the Capitol.

Defense attorney Edward Heilig said his client takes “full responsibility" for his conduct on Jan. 6. “He deeply regrets his actions on that day,” Heilig said after the hearing.

Moloney, who co-owned Moloney Family Funeral Homes, was arrested in June 2023. Moloney has since left the family’s business and transferred his interests in the company to a brother. Moloney appears to have come to the Capitol “prepared for violence,” equipped with protective eyewear, a helmet and a can of insecticide, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. Video shows him spraying the insecticide at officers, the agent wrote.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/funeral-home-owner-pleads-guilty-145714071.html