Springfield Man Files Motion Claiming He Was Under Direction of President Trump to Participate in Jan. 6 Capitol Riot

By Benjamin Cox on December 21, 2022 at 2:00pm

This mugshot of Thomas B. Adams Jr. is from a Sangamon County arrest in 2016. (Sangamon County Sheriff's Office)

A Springfield man says he stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th under direct orders from former President Donald Trump.

39 year old Thomas Adams Jr. of Springfield d was arrested and appeared last April in Springfield federal court. Adams was released on a recognizance bond at the time, according to court records.

Adams was accused in a criminal complaint filed under seal in Washington D.C. of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Adams later told freelance journalist Abigail Higgins that “It was a really fun time.” Adams later admitted to the FBI that he entered the Capitol grounds with a friend in what he thought was a peaceful protest and a lawful occupying of a public building.

According to a document filed yesterday by Federal Public Defender A.J. Kramer and reported on by the Chicago Tribune’s Jason Meisner, Adams is saying that he was acting under actual or believed authority to engage in his conduct set forth in his indictment “by Donald J. Trump and his agents and representatives.” Adams’ counsel also filed motions to dismiss charges of tampering with a witness, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds. They have also filed a motion for change of venue.

Adams is next due in the Washington D.C. Federal Court on March 3rd.