A Pennsylvania man was sentenced on Friday to nearly three years in prison for attacking police officers with a stun gun during the U.S Capitol riot.
Alan Byerly apologized to his victims before he was sentenced. According to his lawyers, Byerly will get credit for the more than 15 months he has spent in jail.
Byerly denied that he went to D.C. to harm anyone.
Byerly used a stun gun on police officers who were trying to hold off the mob that formed outside the Capitol in January of 2021.
He said that when he confronted the officers, he was anagonistic jerk. He said he hit Minchillo after he heard a voice say that. Get him out of here
Minchillo was wearing a lanyard with AP lettering when he was attacked by Byerly and other rioters. Byerly dragged Minchillo toward a crowd after grabbing him. A photographer took a video of the assault.
Byerly apologized for his actions and said he should have never gotten involved.
A sentence of at least three years and 10 months of imprisonment was requested by prosecutors. Lawyers for the defense asked for a sentence below the guidelines.
Byerly is remorseful for his part in the mob's assault on democracy, according to Moss. The judge said it was clear that Byerly couldn't have hurt anyone with the stun gun he brought to the Capitol, but the officers couldn't have known that because of the sound it made.
Moss said that they were scared by it.
The judge said that Minchillo must have been scared.
None of his victims showed up.
Byerly traveled to Washington, D.C., for the "Stop the Steal" rally after buying a stun gun at a store in Pennsylvania. Byerly and other rioters went to the west side of the Capitol and used a metal Trump billboard as a battering ram against police.
He deployed his stun gun after approaching police officers. When officers grabbed the stun gun from Byerly's hands, he charged at them, struck and pushed them, and grabbed an officer's baton. The officer fell while trying to restrain Byerly.
The model of stun gun that Byerly bought was considered to be junk by engineering experts, according to defense attorneys.
The defense lawyers wrote in a court filing that Mr. Byerly accidentally activated the device on himself and knew it wouldn't hurt.
The other rioters helped him evade capture. According to prosecutors, he told FBI agents that he did a stupid thing down there.
They wrote that this was a reference to how he dealt with the reporter.
Since his arrest more than a year ago, Byerly has remained in custody.
A number of people have been charged with federal crimes. More than 400 of them have entered guilty pleas. According to an AP review of court records, nearly 300 people have been sentenced, with roughly half of them getting terms of imprisonment.
Police officers were injured during the riot. According to the Justice Department, over 270 people have been charged with assault at the Capitol. Several defendants are accused of attacking members of the news media at the Capitol.
That's right.
The full coverage of the Capitol riot can be found at the AP's website.
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