WASHINGTON — A New York man who is running for the congressional seat previously held by George Santos was convicted this week of charges relating to the Jan. 6 riot after he testified at his trial that he didn’t know Congress convened inside the Capitol.
Philip Sean Grillo, of Queens, was found guilty Tuesday of the felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, along with a series of misdemeanors like entering restricted grounds and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, the Justice Department said in a news release.
Grillo, 49, entered and exited the Capitol on Jan. 6 multiple times, at least once through a broken window, according to the Justice Department.
While he was inside the Capitol, Grillo was interviewed on camera about why he was there.
“I’m here to stop the steal,” he said, according to the Justice Department. “It’s our f—ing House!”
During the riot, Grillo recorded videos of himself in the Capitol.
“We f—ing did it, you understand? We stormed the Capitol,” Grillo said in one video, according to the Justice Department. “We shut it down! We did it!”
Philip Sean Grillo in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. District Court for D.C.
Grillo’s attorneys had argued that he “believed he was