capitol riot

Mass. Man Gets 14 Months in Prison for Hitting Officer During Jan. 6 Capitol Riot

Troy Sargent slapped an officer during the riot, then tried to do so again about a minute later after another officer told the crowd that he was in not to attack people, federal prosecutors said

Police bodycam footage shared with FBI investigators that allegedly shows Massachusetts resident Troy Sargent at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot in Washington, D.C.
FBI

A Massachusetts man arrested last year in the FBI's U.S. Capitol riot investigation was sentenced Monday for assaulting members of law enforcement, according to the Department of Justice.

Troy Sargent, a 38-year-old from Pittsfield, was sentenced Monday in Washington, D.C., to 14 months in prison. He had pleaded guilty in June to the six charges he'd been indicted with, including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, for his part in the violence that broke out Jan. 6, 2021, following a pro-Trump rally nearby.

Sargent had been seen on a local police body camera throwing a punch at officers protecting the Capitol building, according to an FBI investigator's affidavit filed in federal court. Several people had written to the FBI to say that Sargent attended the rally.

He slapped an officer during the riot, then tried to do so again about a minute later after another officer told the crowd that he was in not to attack people, officials said. The Massachusetts man would later write to someone else on social media, "I got two hits in on the same rookie cop."

FBI Director Christopher Wray says the criminal activities at the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, is viewed by the bureau as "domestic terrorism."

The riot interrupted a key part of the certification of the 2020 presidential election and led to five deaths. It remains under investigation across the country as one of the most significant interruptions of the peaceful transition of power in American history. Approximately 900 people have been arrested.

Sargent's was the seventh arrest by the FBI's Boston division in connection with the Capitol riot, a bureau representative told NBC News at the time.

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