A Montgomery County police officer who was convicted Friday for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will no longer serve in the department, according to police.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced that Justin Lee, 25, of Rockville was convicted of “forcibly obstructing law enforcement” and other felony and misdemeanor charges related to his actions during the breach of the Capitol by supporters of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden found Lee guilty of two felony offenses for his involvement in the insurrection, including assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers and civil disorder, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a release.
McFadden also found Lee guilty of the misdemeanor offenses of 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, according to the release.
Lee is one of six known Montgomery County residents who participated in the insurrection and have been arrested or sentenced. He now awaits a Nov. 22 sentencing hearing.
Terrell N. Roberts, Lee’s attorney, told MoCo360 Friday that he was “disappointed” with the verdict, “but we appreciate the care and attention that the judge gave to the case.”
In a statement Friday afternoon, county police said Lee was relieved of his police powers while the insurrection case was pending and will no longer be employed by the department now that he has been convicted.
The department noted it is “dedicated to ensuring that all our officers continue to uphold the standards that serve the best interests of the Montgomery County community.”
Lee was indicted in October 2023 for felony offenses of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers related to his actions during the insurrection. FBI Baltimore arrested Lee on Oct. 19 in Maryland, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
According to police, Lee had participated in the insurrection before being hired as a county police officer. Lee began working at the department on Jan. 31, 2022.
“Lee’s involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection was not discovered during this process, as he was not identified by the Justice Department in connection with the event,” police said of his hiring process in October after his arrest.
Officer-involved shooting
Before his indictment, Lee had been on administrative leave at the department since July 22, 2023, when he fatally shot a man suspected in four stabbings in Aspen Hill.
Franklin Castro Ordonez, 19, of Gaithersburg was suspected of stabbing four people in the areas of Colie Road and the Unique Thrift Store on Veirs Mill Road in an attack that police Assistant Chief Darren Francke called “unprovoked” and “random” at a July 22, 2023, press conference.
Police body camera footage released weeks later showed Ordonez running toward Lee, knife in hand, and as a result, Lee shot him multiple times.
“No matter what Mr. Lee did on Jan. 6, it’s my opinion that he has atoned for that by his service as a Montgomery County police officer, and that includes his act of bravery and saving lives on a particular occasion when he had to use deadly force to stop a knife-wielding man,” Roberts said Friday. “It’s tragic, very tragic.”
In April, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General chose not to pursue charges against Lee after investigating the officer-involved shooting, according to police. Since the shooting, Lee has not “performed the duties of a police officer,” police said Friday.
Roberts told MoCo360 in October that the attorney general’s investigation of the shooting did not lead the FBI to finding Lee.
On Friday Roberts said he didn’t have a comment about Lee losing his job as a county police officer. “I guess they’re following their protocols and procedures as to what they have to do,” he said.
Following the sentencing in November, Roberts said Lee would consider his options when it comes to appealing the verdict.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday that, according to documents presented during the trial, Lee was identified by law enforcement authorities from open-source video of a crowd of rioters who were at the exterior Archway of the Capitol leading to the “Tunnel” area of the building.
“The Tunnel was the site of some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on Jan. 6,” the attorney’s office said in the release.
From the open-source video, authorities observed a man–who they later identified as Lee–standing on the steps leading to the Tunnel and throwing smoking and sparking objects toward a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers.
Lee was also seen throwing an unlit object at police and holding and pointing a flashlight toward the Tunnel entrance.
According to the attorney’s office, one of the objects thrown by Lee “produced a billowing smoke cloud as other rioters attempted to physically push against the officers, preventing entry into the Capitol building.”
In the more than three years since the insurrection, more than 1,488 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, according to the attorney’s office. Nearly 550 individuals have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.