LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A former Hardin County sheriff's deputy and Army veteran has pleaded guilty to his involvement in the Jan. 6 capitol riots in 2021.
The FBI submitted several images proving Joseph Irwin was one of the people who breached the capitol.
The former law enforcement officer is accused of threatening a group of capitol police officers wielding a wooden pole at them before smashing it to the ground while shouting at them to "go home."
Irwin was arrested by FBI agents from Louisville back in 2021. At the time, the Hardin County sheriff confirmed Irwin worked as a deputy for the department before he left in 2016.
He pleaded guilty this week to three felonies — obstructing an official proceeding, entering a restricted building with a deadly weapon, and disorderly conducting a restricted building.
The FBI investigation found Irwin broke into the capitol with a pole with a metal tip in hand. Once inside, he made his way to the Senate floor where he, according to court documents, started yelling at the top of his lungs "This is ours right here. This is our house. This is what the court do when the court take it. Don't give it back to them now."
Irwin and a friend were also seen sitting at the desks of senators, wielding the pole, which he would go on to frame in a shadow box.
The Associated Press reported the average sentence for Jan. 6 defendants who have pleaded guilty is approximately two years and five months.
Irwin will be sentenced by a judge on Aug. 9.
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