Glen Mitchell “Mitch” Simon, a Minot native, posted this photo of himself on social media after leaving the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Image from social media

Editor’s note: This story contains raw and offensive language.

New documents detail the role played by a Minot native during last year’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Glen Mitchell “Mitch” Simon, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of “demonstrating inside the Capitol” on Jan. 6, 2021, wandered inside the building for at least 42 minutes, shouting and rallying rioters trying to stop Congress from certifying the election of President Joe Biden.

In a confession he signed, Simon admitted that he shot video inside the building and called police “little f***ing spineless f***ing oath-violating little spineless weasels” for trying to prevent the mob from storming the House and Senate chambers.

Supporting his fellow rioters who were trying to take control of the Capitol, Simon declared, “This is what a tyrannical government gets treated like. We bust in this bitch and show ’em who the f***ing boss really is.”

Simon, 30, faces possible imprisonment for up to six months and a fine of up to $5,000. Free on his own recognizance, he is apparently in Georgia, where he has lived in recent years.

Advertisement

He is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 18 before Chief Judge Beryl Howell in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Simon was among the first of at least 725 defendants to admit guilt on federal charges in connection to the mayhem at the Capitol that caused members of Congress to flee and saw scores of police officers injured as they tried to hold back the crowd.

The protesters did more than $1.4 million worth of damage to the building. As part of his plea bargain, Simon agreed to pay $500 toward the repairs.

Shortly after the failed insurrection last January, Simon told the Sun Journal he had never gone inside the building. He said Congress is full of “absolutely grimy, disgusting monsters,” but denied he had gone past the outside steps, and insisted his deleted video never showed anything inside the building.

Court documents and Simon’s signed confession show that was a lie.

Simon Glen Mitchell – Statement of Offense – October 2021 by sunjournal on Scribd

Advertisement

Simon, arrested in May, posted video and photographs of himself in the Capitol and outside of it as he and a crowd of hundreds broke through police lines and stormed the building as senators began the process of certifying electors for both Biden and the man he defeated, former President Donald Trump.

An angry crowd marched to the Capitol after Trump urged them to go there to demonstrate. Once there, the crowd smashed their way in through windows and doors.

Biden has called the attack on the Capitol “one of the darkest days” in the nation’s history.

Trump dismissed concerns about what happened and one congressman, U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Georgia Republican, compared the protesters to tourists and denounced the idea that they intended insurrection as “a boldfaced lie” in a May 2021 Washington Post story.

Trump released a statement in October that insisted that “the real insurrection happened on November 3rd, the Presidential Election, not on January 6th — which was a day of protesting the Fake Election results.” Trump’s statement did not include evidence to support his claim.

It’s an argument that Simon and others took to heart.

Advertisement

Inside the building that day, Simon said, “This is what a revolution looks like. This is what happens. This is what gets s*** done.”

Federal prosecutors shared a video surveillance image that they say pinpoints Mitch Simon’s presence inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. FBI surveillance photo

His confession said he entered the Capitol at 2:14 p.m., about 15 minutes after the first people busted through doors and windows to gain access to the closed building.

While inside, he walked through the area known as the Crypt, with its sandstone columns, then along Statuary Hall on the second floor and into the Rotunda.

Near the Rotunda, someone told him the way to go to find members of Congress.

Simon recorded himself saying, “All right, folks, we up in this son of a bitch. We’re up in this thing. Did they invite us in? F*** no, they didn’t. This is our house! Free men don’t ask for permission!”

A little later, Simon shouted, “We’re going to Congress right now. Go! Go! Go! Go! Open it up!”

While he was inside the building, Simon said in the recording, “This is what happens when the people get tired of it. We f***ing bust that f***ing door down. And we started pouring in here.”

Related Headlines

Comments are not available on this story.

filed under: