A Centre County man was convicted of felony and misdemeanor charges on Thursday for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Terry L. Allen, 65, was found guilty on seven of eight counts, including a felony charge of assaulting law enforcement with a deadly or dangerous weapon, by U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta following a bench trial. He was acquitted of a second assault charge.
Allen was arrested in July 2023 after the Department of Justice said he used a flagpole to attack officers during the riot that disrupted the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results for the 2020 presidential election.
According to court documents, video evidence showed Allen at about 1:05 p.m. shoving officers on the West Plaza, then using a 5-foot-long wooden flagpole as a lance, driving it into them in a stabbing motion.
Body-worn camera video from the Metropolitan Police Department later showed Allen at 1:56 p.m. approaching a police line with the flagpole and a black metallic pole, according to the filing. After law enforcement deployed pepper spray, Allen allegedly responded “by throwing what appears and sounds consistent with a black metallic pole at the officers standing less than ten feet away,” according to a statement of facts filed by an FBI agent.
In addition to assaulting law enforcement, Allen was convicted of felony counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and engaging in physical violence in a restrict building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
He was also found guilty on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14.
Allen was previously charged in 1984 with aggravated assault after he repeatedly slammed a State College police officer’s head into the pavement during an altercation. He pleaded guilty and served two years in jail.
A 2011 complaint to the FBI alleged Allen possessed a fully automatic machine gun. “…The allegation was never fully resolved, because there were semi and fully automatic versions of the same weapon and the complainant couldn’t differentiate, and Allen was never interviewed,” an agent wrote.
One witness who identified Allen from images when his face was not covered told investigators Allen had “a stockpile of guns, food and propane,” an FBI agent wrote.
Nearly 1,500 people have been arrested for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the Capitol. Allen is the third man with Centre County ties to be convicted in connection with the riot.
Julian E. Khater, the former owner of Frutta Bowls in State College, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to two felony counts of assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced in January 2023 to nearly seven years in federal prison, which at the time was the longest sentence handed down for anyone charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol.
Brian Gundersen, who resided in State College at the time of the riot, was found guilty in November 2022 of obstructing the congressional session and assaulting a law enforcement officer. He was sentenced in July 2023 to 18 months in prison.
