A mob of supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump climb through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021.
A mob of supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump climb through a window they broke as they storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. Reuters / Leah Millis

A New Mexico county commissioner who founded a group called "Cowboys for Trump" was found guilty by a judge on Tuesday of joining the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, a second consecutive win at trial for the Justice Department.

Following a two-day, non-jury trial, a federal judge in the District of Columbia said the defendant, Couy Griffin, was guilty of a misdemeanor offense.

The judge's ruling bolsters a key theory from prosecutors in hundreds of related cases. They argued that the Capitol grounds were strictly off-limits on Jan. 6, 2021, and that should have been apparent to the thousands of Donald Trump supporters who breached the building that day in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's election.