On Monday, a Kentucky man sentenced to more than two years in prison for using pepper spray on law enforcement officials and carrying a Confederate flag during a Capitol storming in January 6, 2021.
Israel The court sentenced James Easterday, 23, to 2.5 years in prison and 500 hours of community service. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia also ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.
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Easterday flew from Kentucky to the nation’s capital because he was dissatisfied with the 2020 presidential election results and then joined the crowd to storm the Capitol building, according to the release. He was among the rioters outside the Capitol’s East Rotunda doors.
According to prosecutors, as a US Capitol Police officer was dealing with one rioter, Easterday pepper-sprayed him in the face, causing him to collapse and lose consciousness a few minutes later. When the cop regained consciousness, he continued to have eye impairments for several hours following the incident, according to prosecutors.
A fellow rioter later handed Easterday a second can of pepper spray, which he used to spray another small group of officers. The news release from the office stated that at least one policeman sustained facial injuries, resulting in temporary disability.
On December 8, 2022, authorities detained him in Miami.
During the sentencing hearing, Chief Judge James Boasberg stated that he granted Easterday a lighter sentence than prosecutors recommended due to his young age, according to The Associated Press. He further stated that Easterday, 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.
Virtually all 50 states have charged more than 1,300 people for their involvement in the January 6 uprising. This includes roughly 500 people charged with assaulting or hindering law enforcement, which is a crime, according to the announcement.
