WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - A New Mexico county commissioner who founded a group called Cowboys for Trump was found guilty by a judge on Tuesday (March 22) of joining the Jan 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, a second consecutive win at trial for the Justice Department.

Following a two-day, non-jury trial, a federal judge in the District of Columbia said the defendant, Couy Griffin, was guilty of a misdemeanor offence.

The judge's ruling bolsters a key theory from prosecutors in hundreds of related cases. They argued that the Capitol grounds were strictly off-limits on Jan 6, 2021, and that should have been apparent to the thousands of supporters of Mr Donald Trump who breached the building that day in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's election.