Former Lexington council candidate will likely have Jan. 6 charges dismissed
A Lexington man who ran for a Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council seat will likely have several charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol dismissed.
On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered the commutation of sentences of those who have been convicted of various charges related to the violent attack that injured several Capitol police officers.
In addition, Trump has also ordered the U.S. Attorney General to dismiss any pending criminal charges related to the attack to overturn the election of President Joe Biden.
Barry Saturday, 45, of Lexington was charged in July 2023 with civil disorder, knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct within a restricted building, and disorderly conduct within the Capitol.
Saturday had pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the case was ongoing.
Saturday said the charges have yet to be dismissed but said his reputation has already been damaged.
“My reputation has been falsely trashed, and my side of the story has not been heard,” he said.
A criminal complaint said security video showed Saturday “pushing against the backs of other rioters and putting his head down to brace himself against other rioters, actively participating in the heave-ho against the line of police officers” at a tunnel at the Capitol.
Security video later showed he took part in another attempt to push officers back into the tunnel, according to the criminal complaint.
Unlike some who took part in the riot, Saturday was not charged with touching or assaulting any police officers.
Dozens of officers were injured in the melee.
Statewide, more than 20 Kentuckians were charged in the attack.
In November, his court-appointed attorney asked to be relieved from representing Saturday, saying their relationship had broken down.
Saturday said he believes there were problems with a search warrant and the charges against him.
“My rights were grossly violated in the search and seizure of my home,” Saturday said.” Every modern device I owned was seized. Phones, tablets, laptops, flash drives, everything. The FBI’s warrant contradicted itself repeatedly, but only authorized the search and seizure of my phone. There is no allegation suggesting a crime was committed by the use of the phone, so even the phone seizure is highly questionable.”
Saturday also said the charges should have been dismissed because the public has a right to be on Capitol grounds.
“There was no probable cause for any of the charges. Clearly established law prohibits federal law from denying the public access to ‘public forums’ such as the Capitol grounds,” he said.
Saturday said he raised these issues with his lawyers but his thoughts on probable defenses fell on deaf ears.
“Due to a shocking level of poor performance by my attorneys, I’ve been unable to present my side of the case,” he said.
The court file said Saturday was representing himself. He was scheduled to go to trial in April. Saturday ran for city council in 2016 but dropped out, and ran unsuccessfully in May 2022.
This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 10:05 AM.
