GEORGIA, USA — A convicted Jan. 6 Capitol rioter has advanced to a GOP runoff in Georgia's 2nd Congressional District after Tuesday's election, NBC News projected.
Charles "Chuck" Hand III was accused of bragging about wading through tear gas during the Capitol attack.
Hand and Wayne Johnson, a former Trump administration official, both failed to clear 50% plus one threshold needed in the Republican primary election, forcing them to a June 18 runoff.
They will compete for a chance to take on longtime Democratic incumbent Sanford Bishop.
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Hand previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor related to the Capitol breach, admitting in his October 2022 plea agreement and in a Facebook post that he saw a crowd "rushing the Capitol Police" and that "tear gas, rubber bullets, mace and etc wasn't stopping them."
He and his wife, Mandy Robinson-Hand, traveled from Butler to participate in the riot. Both were convicted of misdemeanor parading and picketing at the Capitol and sentenced to 20 days in federal prison and six months probation.
In a letter to the court, Hand wrote that he "had no urge to return to Washington" and that after sentencing, he would "get in my truck and head back to Georgia, where I belong and never return to Washington D.C. unless the voters of Georgia decide to send me back as a Representative of them someday in the future," NBC News reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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