Convicted In US Capitol Attack, RivCo Men See Co-Conspirator Sentenced

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former La Habra police chief who conspired with four Southwest Riverside County men to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Thursday to 135 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.

Alan Hostetter, 59, of Poolville, Texas, formerly of San Clemente, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth following a bench trial that concluded July 13. The judge found Hostetter guilty on four felony counts: conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

On Nov. 7, four of Hostetter's co-defendants — Erik Scott Warner of Menifee, Felipe Antonio Martinez of Lake Elsinore, Derek Kinnison of Lake Elsinore, and Ronald Mele of Temecula — were all convicted by a jury of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and obstruction of an official proceeding — both felony offenses.

Warner and Kinnison were also convicted of tampering with documents or proceedings, a felony.

In addition to the felony convictions, all four Southwest Riverside County men were also found guilty of misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

The four are awaiting sentencing.

Another of Hostetter’s co-defendants, Ladera Ranch resident Russell Taylor, pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding. He too awaits sentencing.

According to the evidence presented at Hostetter's trial, in the days following the 2020 presidential election, the retired police chief coordinated with his co-conspirators to obstruct and interfere with a Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress at the Capitol that had convened to certify the electoral college vote.

Prior to the Capitol melee, Hostetter gave several speeches espousing his views on the 2020 presidential election and calling for the execution of his perceived political enemies, according to federal prosecutors. Hostetter told a crowd of supporters, “There must—absolutely must—be a reckoning. There must be justice. President Trump must be inaugurated on January 20th, and he must be allowed to finish this historic job of cleaning out the corruption in the cesspool known as Washington, D.C. The enemies and traitors of America, both foreign and domestic, must be held accountable. And they will. There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this coup.”

In another such speech in December 2020, prosecutors said Hostetter told supporters what he intended to accomplish on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Choke that city off, fill it with patriots, and then those people behind the walls of the Senate and the House are gonna be listening to us chanting outside those walls,” Hostetter allegedly said.

He allegedly added that he wanted members of Congress to know that the "five million people" outside the Capitol walls were going to drag the lawmakers out by their hair and tie them "to a f— lamp post.”

On Jan. 1, 2021, a co-conspirator of Hostetter’s created a Telegram chat called “The California Patriots-DC Brigade,” which Hostetter, along with more than 30 others, joined and used to identify themselves, communicate, and coordinate with each other, according to federal prosecutors.

Hostetter drove to Washington, D.C., for the Jan. 6 protest, choosing not to fly so that he could load his car with weapons. Hostetter brought tactical gear, a helmet, hatchets, knives, stun batons, pepper spray, and other gear for himself and others, prosecutors said.

On the morning of Jan. 6, the ex-police chief met up with other members of the “DC Brigade” and walked to the Ellipse for the “Stop the Steal” rally. Afterward, he and others walked to the Capitol building. Hostetter made his way up the Capitol stairs, through scaffolding, and onto the Inaugural stage.

As he came out from the scaffolding, Hostetter carried a bullhorn, looked down over the West Plaza and encouraged the rioters who had overrun a police line, according to prosecutors.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., Hostetter joined other rioters on the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol. The crowd was pushing through a line of law enforcement officers. Hostetter and a co-conspirator rammed through the police line, moved through restricted areas, and climbed into scaffolding covering a northwest set of stairs leading to the Inaugural stage, prosecutors said.

Hostetter got to the Upper West Terrace and said in a recorded video, “The people have taken back their house. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful sight in my whole life. We’ve been sitting here, quietly for years, watching this corruption unfold. Hundreds of thousands of patriots showed up today to take back their government,” according to prosecutors.

Hostetter remained on the Upper West Terrace for hours, using his bullhorn to encourage the crowd, prosecutors said. He finally left the area after being forced out by police. He later posted a picture of himself on Instagram that was taken from the Upper West Terrace. It read, “This was the shot heard round the world!...the 2021 version of 1776. That war lasted 8 years. We are just getting started.”

Hostetter was arrested by the FBI in California on June 10, 2021.

The case against him was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.