A man who broke into the US Capitol with a Confederate battle flag was sentenced to more than 2 years in prison

A man who broke into the US Capitol with a Confederate battle flag was sentenced to more than 2 years in prison

Kyiv  •  UNN

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A Kentucky man who stormed the U.S. Capitol with a Confederate battle flag on January 6, 2021, and sprayed pepper spray on two police officers, partially blinding them for several hours, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

In the United States, a defendant who brought a Confederate flag to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and wore a hat with the words "I love TRUM" and attacked police officers with a chemical spray, partially blinding two of them for several hours, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, UNN reports citing ABC News.

Details

Isreal Easterday, the Kentucky man who stormed the U.S. Capitol with a Confederate battle flag, was sentenced on Monday, March 22, to more than two years in prison for pepper spraying two police officers in the face during the January 6, 2021, riots, partially blinding them for several hours.

Chief Judge James Boasberg cited Easterday's youth as the reason for the sentence of two years and six months in prison, which is more than five times less than the Department of Justice recommended.

The judge said that Easterday, who was home-schooled by his mother while he lived on the family farm, "may not have been fully aware of what was happening at the Capitol on January 6, or understood that the Confederate flag was a 'symbol of rebellion.

At the end of the court session, Boasberg ordered that Isterdey be taken into custody to begin serving his sentence immediately. Some of Easterday's supporters hugged each other as he was taken out of the courtroom.

I will not let you down

- Easterday told the judge after learning his sentence.

For reference

A jury found Easterday guilty in October 2023 on nine counts, including charges that he attacked Capitol Police Officers Joshua Pollitt and Miguel Acevedo with pepper spray he had purchased from other rioters.

Easterday traveled from his home in Bonneville, Kentucky, to Washington, D.C., to attend then-President Donald Trump's "Stop the Theft" rally outside the White House on January 6, 2021. In the photo, Easterday is captured with a Confederate battle flag after he climbed to the top of a tree near the rally site.

After marching to the Capitol, Easterday joined other rioters in storming East Plaza. He waved his flag as he pushed his own through the crowd to reach the door of the East Rotunda, where he separately attacked two officers.

Pollitt lost consciousness and collapsed in the crowd after Easterday sprayed his unprotected face. Videos were also obtained that show Easterday smiling before spraying the mixture at Miguel Acevedo, ABC reports.

When the officer regained consciousness, he was frightened by how vulnerable he was. Severe pain and loss of vision lasted for hours

- prosecutors wrote. 

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