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‘One of the most violent’ Jan. 6 rioters receives a 20-year prison sentence
David Dempsey assaulted officers on Jan. 6 and stood in front of a gallows, where he called for politicians to be hanged. His is among the longest Capitol riot sentences yet.
www.nbcnews.com
A Donald Trump supporter who stood in front of a gallows and spoke of his desire to hang Democratic politicians before he assaulted numerous police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Friday.
It's among the longest sentences handed out in a Jan. 6 case to date.
Prosecutors had sought more than 21 years (262 months) for David Dempsey, saying he "viciously" assaulted law enforcement officers at the lower west tunnel of the Capitol, where some of the worst violence took place that day. According to prosecutors, Dempsey climbed over fellow rioters "like human scaffolding" and used "his hands, feet, flag poles, crutches, pepper spray, broken pieces of furniture, and anything else he could get his hands on" as weapons against police officers.
"Dempsey was one of the most violent rioters, during one of the most violent stretches of time, at the scene of the most violent confrontations at the Capitol on January 6, 2021," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
Dempsey assaulted numerous officers but pleaded guilty specifically in connection with attacks on Washington Police Detective Phuson Nguyen, whom he hit with "a torrent of pepper spray" just after another rioter compromised Nguyen's mask, and Washington Police Sgt. Jason Mastony, who was hit so hard with a metal crutch that he collapsed in a daze and was left with a gash in his head, prosecutors wrote.
