# L. Brent Bozell IV The militant face of the [[Bozell Family]] — and the figure who transformed a conservative media dynasty into a case study in political violence. **Leo Brent Bozell IV** ("Zeeker"), born c. 1978–1979, is the son of [[L. Brent Bozell III]] (founder of the [[Media Research Center]]), brother of [[David Bozell]] (who runs [[ForAmerica]]), and a fourth-generation member of one of the most consequential right-wing dynasties in America. He was convicted on ten felony and misdemeanor counts for his role in the [[January 6 Capitol Attack]], sentenced to 45 months in prison, and pardoned by [[Donald Trump]] on Inauguration Day 2025. ## January 6: The Sequence Bozell attended the Ellipse rally wearing a red and white hat and a blue "Hershey Christian Academy" sweatshirt, then marched to the Capitol. What followed was among the most sustained individual acts of violence documented in the breach: He used a bike rack as a makeshift ladder to ascend the Northwest Stairs and stood face-to-face with [[Capitol Police]] at the front of the mob when rioters pushed through the police line. At approximately 2:15 PM, he bashed an exterior windowpane of the Senate Wing doors **10 times** with a hard object, cracking it, then bashed an adjacent window **11 times** until the glass shattered. He clambered through the broken window with scores of rioters. Inside, the mob chased a USCP officer up a staircase into the Ohio Clock Corridor. Bozell separated from the group and entered a room used by Senators — two officers found him and escorted him out. He made his way to the Speaker of the Senate's office area. He joined rioters forcing open the Rotunda doors, letting another wave of rioters enter. He reached the Senate Chamber balcony as the crowd chanted "Treason! Treason!" and eventually reached two C-SPAN cameras, **pointing one toward the ground** to obstruct its recording as rioters reached the Senate floor. He departed the Capitol at 3:07 PM, having spent nearly an hour inside. He was arrested on February 21, 2021, in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. ## Charges, Trial, and Sentencing Bozell was indicted on April 26, 2023, on **ten felony and misdemeanor charges**, including five felonies: obstructing an official proceeding (carrying up to 20 years), aiding and abetting obstruction, two counts of destruction of government property and aiding and abetting, civil disorder, and assaulting/resisting/impeding officers. The remaining counts were misdemeanors including entering and remaining in a restricted building. He was tried in a **bench trial** (no jury) before U.S. District Judge **John D. Bates** in the District of Columbia and found **guilty on all 10 counts** in September 2023. On **May 17, 2024**, Judge Bates sentenced him to **45 months** (3 years and 9 months) in federal prison plus **$4,727 in restitution**. The DOJ had sought over 11 years and a terrorism enhancement, which Bates rejected. Bates described Bozell's conduct as "relentless." ## The Pardon [[Donald Trump]] pardoned Bozell on January 20, 2025 — Inauguration Day — as part of mass clemency for more than 1,200 January 6 defendants. Bozell was released immediately, having served approximately 8 months of his 45-month sentence. ## Family Response [[L. Brent Bozell III]] submitted a sentencing letter in May 2024: "I am not pleading my son's innocence, only that his punishment match the crime. I am asking the Court to consider my son's character that is sterling." After sentencing, Bozell III called the 45-month sentence "a complete travesty" and claimed on X: "This was a political prosecution because my son, Leo Brent Bozell IV carries his father's name, and his father is a known conservative leader who is supporting President Trump in 2024." After the pardon, Bozell III demanded the DOJ "be held accountable for what they did to his son and other Jan 6ers" and claimed the DOJ had offered a deal — accept three years or face a 20-year term — but that his son had been "prepared to plead guilty and accept his punishment." ## "First Family of Right-Wing Violence" Jeet Heer's February 22, 2021 article in *The Nation* — "Meet the Bozells, America's First Family of Right-Wing Violence" — drew a four-generation line from the Bozell-Buckley dynasties to the Capitol breach. The pattern Heer traced: [[Leo B. Bozell]] Sr.'s union-busting (the 1935 Omaha streetcar strike, private guards with tear gas); the Buckley siblings' cross burning at a Jewish resort in Sharon, Connecticut (1937); [[L. Brent Bozell Jr.]]'s "Sons of Thunder" storming an abortion clinic with a wooden cross in Washington, D.C. (1970); [[Patricia Buckley Bozell]] attempting to slap feminist Ti-Grace Atkinson on stage at Catholic University (1971); Bozell III tweeting approval when a congressman body-slammed a reporter (2017); and finally Bozell IV's January 6 violence. The thesis: the Bozells are the militant edge of a movement [[the Buckleys]] tried to keep respectable. ## See Also - [[Bozell Family]] — The dynasty page - [[L. Brent Bozell III]] — Father, MRC founder, now nominated as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa - [[David Bozell]] — Brother, [[ForAmerica]] president, successor at [[Media Research Center]] - [[January 6 Capitol Attack]] — The event - [[Donald Trump]] — Issued the pardon - [[Media Research Center]] — The family's institutional power base