WASHINGTON – A Donald Trump supporter who attacked law enforcement at the Capitol on Jan. 6, including a Capitol police officer who helped him pass out when his head hit a metal railing, was sentenced Thursday to eight years in federal prison.
Stephen Chase Randolph, 34, of Kentucky, was initially identified. facial recognition search matched a photo of him at the Capitol with a photo on his girlfriend’s Instagram page. He was convicted after a trial last year of felony civil disorderly conduct, as well as charges of assaulting an officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and assaulting, resisting or obstructing another officer.
Three of Randolph’s co-defendants — the men who helped break the Capitol perimeter initially — were also sentenced Thursday: James Tate Grant to three years; Jason Benjamin Blythe up to 30 months; and Paul Russell Johnson to five years of probation and intermittent weekend jail time for the first year and an additional two years of house arrest.
Another defendant named Ryan Samsel – who was holding a giant flag depicting Trump as “Rambo”. Before attacking the officers on January 6 — he will be sentenced on February 4, 2025.
Randolph’s eight-year sentence is among the longer sentences given to a rioter who was not part of the Proud Boys or And Keepers seditious conspiracy cases. Only a small number of individual rioters who were not charged with conspiracy received longer sentences. Among them: David DempseyHe got 20 years who repeatedly assaulted officers inside the Capitol’s lower west tunnel; Peter SchwartzIt took 14 years; Danny “DJ” Rodriguez12.5 years who saw Trump as a father figure and put a stun gun to the neck of ex-officer Michael Fanone; Christopher QuaglinIt took 12 years; and a former New York City Police Department officer Thomas WebsterIt took 10 years.
The trial of Randolph, Grant, Blythe, Johnson and Samsel featured dramatic testimony from the first officer known to have been injured during the riot: Caroline Edwards. Edwards, who He testified in the January 6 committee of the House of Representatives In June 2022, testified at the men’s trial last OctoberRandolph and other rioters said he fell briefly during the initial breach of the barricades when he hit his head after pushing a bike rack.
“The lights were on,” Edwards he saiddescribed his mental state after hitting his head, “but no one was home.”
When FBI special agents went undercover to speak with Randolph at the store where he worked in April 2021, he reminded watching “a woman get beat up by a police officer” and “just” saying she got a concussion. [laid] there in the fetal position.” Edwards testified about the long-term effects of the attack, saying he suffered “excruciating” pain that required physical therapy and spent a year and a half on desk duty.
Randolph attacked another officer after driving through a bike rack, one of many used by law enforcement to try to keep rioters away from the Capitol building. Federal prosecutors said it was clear he was not remorseful. “It was a lot of fun,” Randolph told one of the undercover agents before being arrested.
After his arrest, federal authorities said Randolph downplayed his behavior and lied during his interview with the FBI.
“I guess we’ve already conceded defeat, we’ve lost, Joe Biden is president, hey,” Randolph said during the interview, according to the FBI.
Prosecutors noted that Randolph struck a different tone in a recorded call from a prison in Kentucky.
“I got caught up in the heat of the moment, everyone was cheering, chanting and shouting. “I washed my top and grabbed the fence and started shaking with everyone. That lady just fell and hit her head. It’s just a disaster, I feel so bad.”
Randolph’s defense team said the Kentucky man did not bring tactical gear to Washington on Jan. 6 like the others and “obviously got into the mob mentality” after going to hear Trump’s speech on Jan. 6. he saw his trip as a “vacation” and “break”.
“Going to see Mr. Trump speak in Washington was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him,” they wrote.
About 1,500 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, and federal prosecutors on January 6 secured the convictions of more than 1,000 defendants, with hundreds facing prison terms ranging from a few days to 22 years in federal prison.
Trump called the January 6 rioters “political prisoners”.pledges,” “warriors” and “incredible patriots“and at least he said he would pardon”a large part“As one of their first acts in office if elected in November. The former president faces serious charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat and hold on to power; he has pleaded not guilty.
A federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan said earlier this year that the “destructive, misguided rhetoric” used by some Republicans was a danger to the country and that their “preposterous” claims were an attempt to “rewrite history” about the January 6 attack. .
“The court is used to defendants who refuse to admit they did anything wrong.” he said Chief Justice of the United States Royce Lamberth. “But in my thirty-seven years on the bench, I can’t recall a time when criminal activity was so unjustifiably justified.”