Man who stormed Capitol with Confederate flag, pepper sprayed officers sentenced to prison
A Kentucky man charged for using pepper spray against law enforcement officers and carried a Confederate flag while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Monday to over two years in prison.
Isreal James Easterday, 23, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and 500 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
Easterday traveled from Kentucky to the nation's capital because he was upset with the results of the 2020 presidential election and then joined the mob to storm the Capitol building, per the release. He was among the group of rioters outside the East Rotunda doors of the Capitol building.
While a U.S. Capitol Police officer was dealing with one rioter, the office said Easterday pepper sprayed that officer in the face and prompted him to collapse and lose consciousness a few minutes later. When that officer regained consciousness, he still suffered from vision problems for hours after the incident, prosecutors said.
Easterday was later handed a second can of pepper spray by a fellow rioter and used it to spray another small group of officers. At least one of the officers was hit in the face and was temporarily incapacitated, the office said in its press release.
He was arrested on Dec. 8, 2022, in Miami.
Chief Judge James Boasberg said during the sentencing hearing that he gave a lower sentence than what prosecutors recommended due to Easterday’s young age, The Associated Press reported. He added that the man, who was homeschooled while living on a family farm, “may not have fully appreciated what was going on there” during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Easterday apologized to the officers who were injured and said he is “deeply ashamed” of himself for his actions, according to the AP.
More than 1,300 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for actions related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. This includes nearly 500 who were charged for assaulting or impeding law enforcement, which is a felony, per the release.
The Associated Press contributed.
Date: |
Filter
-
Man drove car toward protesters at Oregon university, sprayed ‘some kind of pepper spray’: Police
A man drove his car toward a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters at Portland State University (PSU) and sprayed a chemical agent like pepper spray before running away, police said Thursday night. Police had clashed with protesters, arresting at ...The Hill - Politics
More from The Hill
-
White House shakes up its immigration team
The White House is shaking up its roster of immigration advisors, bringing in a top border enforcement policy leader and a development expert to round out its team. Blas Nuñez-Neto comes to the White House from the Department of Homeland Security ...The Hill - Politics -
Jean-Pierre: 'Admirable' for UNC students to hold up American flag during campus protest
The White House on Friday praised the actions of a group of University of North Carolina students who held up the American flag at a protest on campus over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked during a ...The Hill - Politics -
Bennie Thompson applauds posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom for Medgar Evers
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) was just a boy when civil rights leader Medgar Evers was gunned down in front of his Mississippi home in 1963. But Evers’ legacy left a lasting impact on the 13-term congressman. “I was very young when he died in ...The Hill - Politics -
Austin City Council passes gender affirming care protections after Texas lawsuit
The Austin City Council passed protections for gender-affirming care Thursday, only a few days after the state of Texas filed a lawsuit over Title IX changes granting protections for transgender people. “Trans people deserve the right to self ...The Hill - Politics -
Arkansas takes on crypto miners
The Hill's weekly technology news digest. {beacon} Advertisement Friday, May 3, 2024 Presented by: Presented by: Welcome to Tech Friday, a new joint project of The Hill and Pluribus News covering tech policy across government. Sign up to receive ...The Hill - Politics - Crypto