WASHINGTON – Jan. 6, nicknamed the rioterGrampy Shield“He admitted to using a stolen police shield and attacking officers with a flagpole-like object and baton during a brutal fight in the Lower West Tunnel by online scouts.
Anthony Mastanduno he was begging guilty He was charged Wednesday with nine counts and remanded in custody by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who scheduled his sentencing for June 27. Mastanduno, 61, was arrested in August on an FBI affidavit.mischief huntersHe nicknamed Mastanduno “because of his age and because he used a stolen police shield to attack MPD officers at the entrance to the tunnel.”
Mastanduno previously lived in Farmingdale, New York, and now lives in North Carolina.
According to the agreed-upon lawsuit, he was “wearing a red baseball cap with a patch on the bill and ‘Trump 2020 Keep America Great!’ embroidered with white thread, a camouflage jacket and backpack” on Jan. 6 and also, at times, “large, clear sunglasses with loose elastic straps wore.” He entered the Capitol about four minutes after it was first disrupted by the mass rioters he led. Michael Sparkswindow jumper Proud Boy crushed by Dominic Pezzola.
Mastanduno admitted that he was “in the line of rioters who pressed the police officers. Crypt” and then joined the crowd outside the Capitol on the lower west terrace, where the most brutal violence of the day took place. Mastanduno admitted that he “picked up a blue, flagpole-like object and threw it into the mouth of the tunnel. , as if throwing spears or javelins into the ranks of outnumbered police officers defending the Capitol against the mob of rioters.”
A few minutes later, Mastanduno admitted that he “obtained a police shield that had been stolen from the officers and pushed against the same line of officers at the mouth of the tunnel. He also used a telescopic baton as he pushed. It can be worn on the hip to repeatedly hit the officers, and it expands in length.
It came a day after another rioter nicknamed “Shield Grumpy.”Conan O’Riot“The late-night host pleaded guilty to a charge based on his resemblance to Conan O’Brien.
More than 1,300 people have been charged and more than 950 defendants have been tried in connection with the January 6 attack. About 500 defendants were sentenced to prison terms, including a record number. Enrique Tarrio, a proud boy, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Mastanduno’s plea also came on the same day as the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2024Just three years after the Senate GOP leader said there was “no question” that Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for inciting the Jan. 6 attack.
“The people who stormed this building believed they were acting at the behest and the direction of their president,” McConnell said after the Jan. 6 attack, calling Trump’s behavior “disgraceful,” even though he voted to acquit the former president in an impeachment trial over the riot. .
Social media posts referred to Mastanduno’s case by the FBI shows he deeply believed Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election. “I hated Obama and I hated his politics, but I still considered him my president because he won honestly.” Mastanduno wrote. [will] Fly high and proud in my front yard until 1/20/2025.”