Clickmen
A California man was sentenced to twenty years in jail for his function within the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol, the second-longest sentence but in tons of of prosecutions of riot contributors.
David Nicholas Dempsey pleaded responsible in January to 2 counts of assaulting cops with a harmful weapon, touchdown him a sentence solely surpassed by Proud Boys chief Enrique Tarrio’s 22-year sentence, in line with a report from the Guardian.
Prosecutors accused Dempsey of being some of the violent members of the mob that stormed the Capitol in protest of Congress certifying the 2020 election for President Biden, detailing how the California native stomped the heads of cops, struck officers with makeshift weapons, together with a steel crutch, poles, pepper spray, and damaged items of furnishings.
SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT PARTICIPANT WHO CHALLENGED OBSTRUCTION CONVICTION
Rioters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
He additionally used different rioters as “human scaffolding,” climbing on prime of them to achieve officers guarding a tunnel to the constructing, injuring two of the officers. Dempsey, who labored as a development and fast-food employee, additionally attacked a fellow demonstrator who was trying to disarm him, prosecutors mentioned.
“Your conduct on Jan. 6 was exceptionally egregious,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth instructed Dempsey. “You did not get carried away in the moment.”
Dempsey apologized for his conduct through the sentencing, telling the decide that his actions had been “reprehensible” whereas additionally apologizing to the cops he attacked.
“You were performing your duties, and I responded with hostility and violence,” Dempsey mentioned.
A scene from the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
LEGAL EXPERTS SAY BIDEN ADMIN’S LEGAL THEORY IN JAN 6 PROSECUTION ‘ON THE ROPES’ AFTER SUPREME COURT ARGUMENT
Dempsey had a earlier conviction for housebreaking, theft and assault in California after he attacked protesters peacefully demonstrating towards former President Trump in October 2019. He served 200 days of jail time for that conviction.
Prosecutors sought a 21-year sentence for Dempsey, arguing that he “is political violence personified.” His protection, in the meantime, argued that the federal government’s sentencing suggestion was “ridiculous” and argued for a sentence of six years and 6 months.
Scene from the Jan. 6 2021, Capitol riot. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
–
“It makes him a statistic,” his lawyer, Amy Collins, mentioned. “It doesn’t consider the person he is, how much he has grown.”
Ultimately, the decide sided nearer to the prosecution’s desire, deciding on 20 years for Dempsey, who has already been in jail since August 2021.
