Falkville man to plead guilty in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot
By Eddie Burkhalter
For the Enquirer
An Alabama man charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol is set to plead guilty, court records filed Sept. 8 show.
Lonnie Coffman, 70, of Falkville, was arrested in January while attempting to return to his truck after the deadly riots.
According to a court filing in support of pre-trial detention, in the truck, police found a handgun, assault rifle, shotgun and “several large-capacity ammunition feeding devices,” hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a crossbow, several machetes, smoke devices, a stun gun and 11 mason jars, which were later determined to contain homemade napalm.
Coffman had two pistols on him when police arrested him while returning to his truck, according to court records.
“The search of the defendant’s pickup truck contained concerning handwritten messages that raise alarm in the context of the January 6 rioting and criminal infringement on our nation’s democratic process,” court records show. “One was a handwritten note with words purportedly attributed to Abraham Lincoln – ‘We The People Are The Rightful Masters Of Both The Congress And The Courts, Not To Overthrow The Constitution But To Overthrow The Men Who Pervert The Constitution.’”
“The note also contained information about elected representatives (describing one as purportedly Muslim) and describing a judge as a ‘bad guy.’ Another set of handwritten messages were found on the back of a magazine, and contained purported contact information for ‘Conservative Talk Show Host Mark Levin,’ ‘Shaun [sic] Hannity,’ and ‘Senator Ted Cruz,’” the filing reads.
Court documents show the FBI was aware of Coffman and his involvement with the Southwest Desert Militia as early as 2014, a group that was formed to “combat illegal immigration.”
Coffman was indicted Jan. 8 by a District of Columbia grand jury on 17 separate weapons charges. Coffman’s plea hearing is set for Sept. 23, according to court records.
This article first appeared in the Alabama Political Reporter. It is republished with permission.
