A Pagosa Springs man has been arrested and charged on suspicion of participating in the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to a federal complaint, Clive Kincaid, 75, is suspected of bypassing barricades and pushing his way past police and into the Capitol building.
He is charged with four crimes, including entering the Capitol without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct on restricted grounds; disorderly conduct in the Capitol; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol.
Kincaid made an initial court appearance Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Durango.
In a two-hour interview Thursday with The Durango Herald, Kincaid said he regrets what happened, but he would do it again if given the chance.
“Of course I’d do it again because I did it out of honesty,” he said.
According to the federal complaint, the FBI identified Kincaid as a participant in the riots by obtaining records that showed a phone number likely used by Kincaid as having been inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6. Agents then obtained his Colorado driver’s license photo to familiarize themselves with his appearance.
In reviewing news footage and cellphone videos, the FBI was able to identify Kincade inside and outside the Capitol building. The complaint includes six screenshots that purportedly show him on the stairs outside the Capitol, in the East Rotunda, and on the second and third floors of the Capitol where the House of Representatives is located.
“I had never been in the rotunda before,” Kincaid told the Herald. “ … It is absolutely magnificent … This was something that just lit my heart up.”
One of the images shows him holding onto a bike rack that mob participants had pulled away from law enforcement, according to the complaint. Officers were using the bike rack as a barricade to keep rioters at bay.
“After the mob pulled the bike rack away from the officers, Kincaid stood at the top of the NW stairs and spoke with an officer,” the complaint says. “During this conversation, Kincaid appears to be sprayed with some type of chemical spray deployed by a rioter behind him.”
Another image allegedly shows Kincaid holding what appears to be pepper spray. The images provided in the complaint are black and white and appear to be photocopies of the original images, making it impossible to independently verify if Kincaid is in them or if he is holding pepper spray.
Kincaid entered the Capitol at 2:27 p.m., and he later exited through a door on the first floor at 2:52 p.m., according to the complaint.
He portrayed himself as a curious person who was observing the day’s events. He attended former President Donald Trump’s speech at a rally before the riots, “but it was all stuff I’d heard before many times, so it was kind of boring to me,” he said.
“So I said ‘OK, let’s skip this for now. Let’s go see what’s happening at the Capitol,’” he said.
Kincaid said he did his best to keep the peace, but during the course of the day’s events, he was pepper sprayed and shot six times by rubber bullets.
His only regret is he wishes he would have gotten to the Capitol sooner to try to “stop something bad from happening.”
“I was attempting to stop this whole mess from happening,” he said.
shane@durangoherald.com