A US military veteran, previously pardoned by Donald Trump for his role in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, was sentenced to life in prison this week for plotting to attack an FBI office and assassinate other law enforcement officers.

Edward Kelley, 36, was found guilty last November of trying to attack officers who investigated him over his actions at the US Capitol in Washington DC when pro-Trump supporters tried stormed the building in hopes, ultimately in vain, of stopping the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Trump in the 2020 election.

Kelley was one of the first rioters to breach the Capitol on January 6 after rioters broke through police lines, according to justice department documents. He then made plans to attack the FBI office in Knoxville, Tennessee, with car bombs and explosives attached to drones. He also developed a “kill list” of law enforcement officers he wanted to assassinate.

Previously, a judge found that Trump’s pardon did not apply to this case, saying that his prosecution could continue.

Last November, after a three-day jury trial, he was convicted of conspiracy to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and influencing a federal official by threat, the justice department said.

Austin Carter, another man who plotted with Kelley in 2022 to assassinate the FBI employees, pleaded guilty to the charges and became a cooperating witness. Carter testified against Kelley, saying that he and Kelley planned the attacks.

“He also testified that the conspirators strategized about assassinating FBI employees in their homes and in public places such as movie theaters,” the justice department said.

Prosecutors recommended a life sentence for Kelley, saying he was remorseless for his actions. Kelley had served in the US Marine Corps for eight years and was discharged in 2015. Last year, Kelley was found guilty, in a separate case, of three felonies, including assaulting law enforcement, civil disorder and destruction of government property.

On his first day back in office this January, Trump issued pardons and commutations for nearly 1,500 people convicted of storming the Capitol on 6 January 2021 during the insurrection. On that day, Trump told his supporters at a rally prior to the attack to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat. Trump was impeached for inciting the insurrection but was acquitted by the US Senate, allowing him to run for office again.

Another January 6 defendant was recently revealed to be working within the justice department as an adviser to Ed Martin, a justice department advocate for the insurrectionists. Martin is the leader of the Trump administration’s “weaponization working group”, which was established in February to analyze instances during the Biden administration in which “a department’s or agency’s conduct appears to have been designed to achieve political objectives or other improper aims rather than pursuing justice or legitimate governmental objectives”, a justice department memo says.

Arteaga is charged with attempted aggravated murder, manufacturing, trafficking and carrying firearms or ammunition, and using a minor to commit a crime.

The alleged mastermind of last month’s assassination attempt on Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe, a presidential candidate in the 2026 elections, was arrested today, police said.

Uribe, one of President Gustavo Pedro’s most vocal critics, has been in intensive care for a month and has undergone several surgeries.

In Bogota, José Arteaga Hernández, who had been wanted since June 7, when Uribe was shot in the head while giving a speech at a rally in the middle of the day, was arrested as the organizer of the assassination.

Arteaga is charged with attempted aggravated murder, manufacturing, trafficking and carrying firearms or ammunition, and using a minor to commit a crime.

The politician was allegedly shot by a minor who was arrested, along with three other people who were preparing the attack. The motive is being investigated.

The attack was widely condemned in Colombia, where drug cartels and rebel groups have killed and kidnapped politicians for ransom.

( Beta )

Sign up now: Get ST’s newsletters delivered to your inbox

Handout picture from the police showing Elder Jose Arteaga Hernandez being arrested in Bogota.

BOGOTA – Colombian police have captured a fugitive accused of planning the gun attack in June on Senator Miguel Uribe, a potential presidential candidate, the head of the country’s national police said on July 5, marking the fifth arrest in the case.

Elder Jose Arteaga, known as El Costeno, was arrested on suspicion of organising and coordinating the politician’s shooting at a rally in Colombia’s capital Bogota on June 7 to commit the crime, police said.

This includes handing over the gun used in the attack to the 15-year-old charged with shooting Uribe, the police added.

“We are going after the intellectual authors of this act,” National Police Director Carlos Fernando Triana told a press conference,” adding that Arteaga had a criminal history going back more than 20 years.

Footage on social media showed armed officers cuffing the suspect during a morning raid on a house police said was in a western neighbourhood of Bogota, a day after Mr Triana announced that Interpol had issued a red notice for his arrest.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach Arteaga for comment.

Mr Triana said in a post on social media on July 4 that he was wanted for “aggravated attempted homicide; manufacture, trafficking and carrying of firearms or ammunition; and use of minors for the commission of crimes.”

On July 5, Mr Triana told reporters police were investigating several theories about who was intellectually responsible for the attack, without giving more details.

There is reward of up to 3 billion pesos (S$956,607) for information leading to the identification and capture of those responsible, Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a post on X.

Mr Sanchez added that the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates were helping investigate the crime, which he said operated under a “model of criminal outsourcing.”

A picture of Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe at a tribute, held at the crime scene in Bogota, Colombia, on June 12. PHOTO: REUTERS

Mr Uribe — a 39-year-old presidential pre-candidate for the conservative opposition Democratic Centre party — was shot twice in the head and once in his left leg, according to state prosecutors. He has undergone several serious surgeries since the attack, which left him in critical condition.

Four other suspects have since been arrested, including the 15-year-old alleged shooter who was detained minutes after the attack. In a video of event, independently verified by Reuters, he can be heard shouting that he had been hired by a local drug dealer.

Mr Uribe comes from a prominent political family.

His grandfather, Julio Cesar Turbay, was president from 1978 to 1982, and his mother, journalist Diana Turbay, was killed in 1991 in a botched rescue attempt after being kidnapped by an armed group led by drug lord Pablo Escobar. REUTERS

The alleged mastermind behind the shooting of a conservative Colombian senator and presidential candidate has been taken into custody, almost a month after the attack, law enforcement authorities have said.

Elder José Arteaga Hernández, alias “Chipi” or “Costeño”, was arrested in the north-western part of the capital, Bogotá, on Saturday, national police director Maj Gen Carlos Fernando Triana told reporters. Authorities had previously accused him and other suspects of being near the Bogotá park where Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot on 7 June.

Uribe was giving a political speech in the park when he was attacked from behind and wounded in the head, allegedly by a minor who was captured as he fled. Three other people have been arrested for participating in the logistics and execution of the crime. The motive is still being investigated.

View image in fullscreen Elder José Arteaga Hernandez (alias El Costeño) on Saturday after his arrest in Bogotá. Photograph: Colombian Police/AFP/Getty Images

Uribe, who in October announced his intention to run in the 2026 presidential election, remains in intensive care and has undergone several surgeries. From his senate seat, he had become one of president Gustavo Petro’s most vocal critics.

The attack has been widely condemned in a country with a dark past in which drug cartels and insurgent groups murdered and kidnapped politicians.

Charges against Arteaga include attempted aggravated homicide; manufacturing, trafficking and carrying firearms or ammunition; and using minors to commit crimes. Interpol issued a red notice against him on Friday.

It was not immediately clear if Arteaga had an attorney who could comment on his behalf. Authorities said he would make his first court appearance over the weekend.

Triana last month said Arteaga “has been involved in a life of crime for more than 20 years, performing hit jobs in all types of crimes in Bogotá”.

Colombian police have arrested a man believed to have orchestrated the attempted assassination of conservative senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe, who remains in serious condition after being shot on June 7.

Police identified the suspect as Elder Jose Arteaga Hernandez, describing him as a crucial logistical planner behind the attack.

According to police chief Carlos Fernando Triana Beltran, Arteaga Hernandez organised “the before of the attack, the during, and the after.”

Uribe, 39, was shot three times, twice in the head, during a campaign rally in a Bogota park.

This latest arrest brings the total number of suspects apprehended to five, including the 15-year-old alleged hitman.

Colombia: Suspect arrested for organising politician’s shooting. Credit: The Straits Times

Police stated that Arteaga Hernandez, who has a history of criminal activity and an Interpol file, coordinated the attack, hired the teenage shooter, and provided the firearm.

The teenage shooter is reportedly part of a network of contract killers.

Semana magazine has previously reported that the teen told investigators he was offered over $4,800 to kill Uribe.

Uribe’s attorney, Victor Mosquera, indicated that the investigation has uncovered a “structured organisation” with a “history of attacks on right-wing leaders.”

Uribe, a member of the Democratic Centre party, announced his intention to run in the May 2026 presidential election last October.