SEATTLE — A Seattle man was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Mark Leffingwell, 52, a veteran from Seattle, struck two Capitol police officers while police attempted to create a barrier to prevent rioters from entering the Capitol building.
Prosecutors argued Thursday that what Leffingwell engaged in on Jan. 6, 2021 was not an act of “misguided patriotism” but domestic terrorism.
Leffingwell was indicted on charges of civil disorder, assaulting an officer, entering a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a capitol building, and an act of physical violence in the capitol building, according to the indictment.
Leffingwell pled guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers in October and said he was "embarrassed and ashamed" of his actions.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Leffingwell Thursday.
Prosecutors recommended sentencing of 27 months in prison with three years of supervised release.
On Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of angry supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 Electoral College results and Joe Biden's victory.
Rioters scaled the walls of the Capitol building and stormed the Senate chambers, forcing lawmakers to shelter in place and be rushed from the building.
A Trump supporter was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to breach a barricaded doorway inside the Capitol, and three other Trump supporters suffered medical emergencies and died. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, injured while confronting the rioters, suffered a stroke the next day and died. Four other officers who responded to the Capitol died by suicide following the riot.
More than 700 people have since been charged with federal crimes stemming from the Jan. 6 attack, including at least 12 people with ties to Washington state.