A man who wore a giant panda head to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and became known as “Sedition Panda” after going viral online was convicted on eight counts Friday, including assaulting a police officer.
Jesse James Rumson was convicted of assaulting Prince George’s County Cpl. Scott Ainsworth on Jan. 6, 2021, following a nearby rally for Donald Trump, who had lost the 2020 presidential election.
Rumson was arrested in Florida in 2023 after the FBI identified him from photos and video footage showing him removing the panda head. Internet sleuths also worked to ID the man, and used the hashtag #seditionpanda. In addition to assaulting an officer, charges against Rumson included impeding, resisting, engaging in violence, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Rumson opted for a bench trial before Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, and testified in his own defense.
The judge found that Rumson listened to Trump’s speech the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, then marched to the Capitol with other protesters. He found that Rumson repeatedly rushed toward police and eventually made his way inside the Capitol.
According to the affidavit, Rumson spent around 15 minutes inside the building. The judge said there could be no reasonable doubt that Rumson knew he wasn’t supposed to be inside the Capitol that day, “especially after he was placed in handcuffs” and later freed by other rioters before he assaulted Ainsworth.
According to the FBI affidavit, Rumson ran “through the crowd towards the officer, reaching out, and grabbing the officer’s face shield, which forced the officer’s head and neck back and upwards.”
“His conduct at the Capitol was no accident,” Nichols said.
In his defense, Rumson “admitted that he made contact with Ainworth’s helmet but claimed it was accidental. He offered no logical explanation for why he rushed at police again and again,” NBC News reported.
Nichols set Rumson’s sentencing for Sept. 5 at 11 a.m. “Sedition Panda” was allowed to roam free – at least for now – after the government declined to move for immediate post-conviction confinement.
