CONVICTED FOR PRAYING

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday convicted an elected official from New Mexico of illegally entering restricted US Capitol grounds but acquitted him of engaging in disorderly conduct during the riot that disrupted Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.

US District Judge Trevor McFadden heard one day of testimony without a jury on Monday before handing down a verdict in the misdemeanor case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a 48-year-old former rodeo rider who helped found a group called Cowboys for Trump.

McFadden, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said there was ample evidence that Griffin knew he was in a restricted area and didn’t leave. Griffin crossed over three walls, needing help from others or a ladder to get over them, the judge noted.

“All of this would suggest to a normal person that perhaps you should not be entering the area,” McFadden said from the bench.

But the judge said prosecutors didn’t meet their burden to prove that Griffin engaged in disorderly conduct

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