Proud Boys member from Rockaway pleads guilty to charges from Capitol riot

A Rockaway Township man pleaded guilty Friday to a federal civil disorder charge for his aggressive role with fellow right-wing Proud Boys members during the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that sought to keep then-President Donald Trump in power.

Shawn Price, 28, who served as vice president of a North Jersey chapter of the Proud Boys, traveled to Washington, D.C. with around a dozen other members and entered the restricted grounds of the U.S. Capitol where he helped push a crowd forward into a line of officers working to restrain the crowd, according to court documents filed Friday in the case.

Price, a former Hopatcong resident in Sussex County, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. Federal prosecutors will recommend a reduced sentence between one year and 18 months since Price agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department's investigation into the deadly riot and has accepted responsibility for his actions. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols won't be bound by the recommendation at sentencing.

Under the agreement, Price would be fined between $4,000 and $40,000, which was reduced from the maximum $250,000 fine under the federal statute.

Price was armed with goggles, milk and other neutralizing substances when he arrived to the Capitol around 1 p.m. and filmed himself with a crowd of rioters entering the lower west terrace, court documents show. Price, who uploaded the video to his Facebook account, screamed obscenities at officers, called them cowards and yelled to the crowd "It's go time guys!" as they ascended the northern stairs, prosecutors said in Friday's newly filed court documents.

"They thought we couldn't do it, they wanted to hold us back, now look at this [explicit]!" Price said in his video before calling officers "traitors" and urging the crowd "let's go."

Price admitted around 1:30 and 1:45 p.m., he put on his goggles and helped several Proud Boys members he traveled with push people into law enforcement officers who were attempting to restrain the crowd and holding crowd-control barriers in place, records show. Price later told Facebook users he "led the storm" and was able to breach the Capitol doors, despite "getting tear gassed pepper sprayed and shot with rubber bullets."