18 Men Charged With Assaulting Police on January 6th Face Justice

     To clarify a persistent and damaging myth, the Lower West Terrace was not the only place violence occurred at the Capitol on January 6th. Some have used this claim to create a false dichotomy of the events that day, of the "mostly peaceful" people who simply took a stroll in the Capitol, blissfully unaware of assaults on law enforcement. From the Oath Keepers in the East Rotunda to just outside the Senate chambers to Statuary Hall and various other locations, hundreds of suspects assaulted or impeded law enforcement away from the Lower West Terrace. Two notable examples are Riley Williams, the Pennsylvania woman accused of being involved in the theft of Nancy Pelosi's laptop; and Richard Barnett, the man who put his feet up on Nancy Pelosi's desk: both were convicted of felony civil disorder and other crimes and received three- and 4.5-year prison sentences, respectively.

     However, the Lower West Terrace was the site of the worst violence that occurred that day, including the assaults on Michael Fanone, Daniel Hodges, and the unidentified officer who was beaten with various objects while laying in a prone position. The DOJ has filed two separate nine-defendant indictments collectively charging dozens of felonies for the brunt of the violence that occurred inside and outside the tunnel that day. While hundreds have been or will be charged with assaulting and obstructing law enforcement in that brutal attack, the DOJ has alleged that these 18 defendants were the key players in the violence against those who defended our democracy. 

Indictment One: Inside the Tunnel

1. David Mehaffie of Ohio, an anti-abortion extremist who became known as "Tunnel Commander" for his leading role in distributing shields and timing the heave-ho pushes against police, was convicted at a bench trial of two felonies and sentenced to 14 months in prison and two years of probation. He was released on December 31st, 2023.
2. Geoffrey Sills, a Virginia man who threw several poles at police, wrestled away an officer's baton, and used it to strike them while disorienting the officers with a strobe light, was sentenced to 52 months in prison with three years of probation and $2,000 restitution after being convicted of three felonies. He is incarcerated at the federal prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania, until early 2025.
3. David Lee Judd of Texas was sentenced to 32 months in prison with two years of probation and a $5,691 fine for two felony charges after he joined in the heave-ho against law enforcement, lit a firecracker and fired it at the police line, and helped pass shields used to build a shield wall to push against police. He is serving his sentence through mid-2025 in Seagoville, Texas.
4. Tristan Chandler Stevens of Florida, convicted of five felonies related to assaulting law enforcement for pressing against the police line with stolen riot shields, was sentenced to five years in prison, two years of probation, and $2,500 in fines and restitution after he rattled off conspiracy theories at his sentencing. He is being held at the medium-security prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi, until mid-2027.
5. Patrick McCaughey III, the Connecticut man who gained notoriety for pressing Officer Daniel Hodges with a riot shield, causing immense pain but thankfully no serious injuries, was sentenced to 90 months in prison, three years of probation, and $2,000 restitution for seven felony crimes. He is scheduled to be released from the FCI at Elkton in Ohio in late 2028.
6. Robert Morss, a Pennsylvania substitute teacher and military veteran who in my view was one of the worst defendants from that day, was convicted of three felonies and sentenced to 66 months in prison with two years of probation and $2,000 restitution for attempting to steal an officer's baton, removing a bike rack at a police line, making his way to the tunnel, participating in the heave-ho against police, helping to organize a shield wall, robbing an officer of his shield, and making his way through a broken window into a senator's trashed office before passing a chair into the crowd from the office, all while armed with scissors and a knife and clad in a full military uniform and protective gear; police later found a lego model of the Capitol at his home. He is scheduled for release from the FCI Loretto in January 2026.
7. Christopher Joseph Quaglin, the former New Jersey resident who joins Morss as the other of my top two picks for worst on this list, donned a helmet and gas mask and engaged in a streak of violence that day. He shoved an officer, grabbed him by the neck, and then worked with other insurrectionists to pull down barricades before lunging at another officer and pushing him down. When other officers dropped their shields and came to their comrade's aid, Quaglin and the mob overpowered them and robbed them of their shields. He passed all but one back into the crowd, using this one to attack police in the Lower West Terrace before engaging in three separate pepper spray assaults against law enforcement, the last of which was a direct spray into the face of an officer who was not wearing any protective gear. Quaglin then joined in the heave-ho, pushing against the officer he just pepper sprayed, before being forced out of the tunnel. For this rage- and violence-filled two hours, Quaglin faced 12 felony charges and two misdemeanors, and he was convicted of all of them on July 10th, 2023.
8. Steven Cappuccio of Texas was captured on video ripping off the mask of Officer Daniel Hodges as McCaughey pinned the officer with his shield, as well as robbing him of his baton and beating him with it. Cappuccio was convicted at a bench trial of six felonies and one misdemeanor and sentenced to 85 months in prison, two years of probation, and $2,000 restitution. He will be incarcerated through the end of July 2029 in the same prison as Peter Francis Stager.
9. Federico Klein, a Virginia man appointed to serve in a Department of State position with high-level security clearance by Donald Trump, was convicted of eight felonies for using stolen riot shields to prevent police from closing the tunnel doors on January 6th, aggressively pushing against the police line, and rallying others to assault and impede law enforcement, for which he earned himself a sentence of 70 months in prison, two years of probation, and $5,000 in fines and restitution. He is serving his sentence through November 2028 at FCI Fort Dix.

Indictment Two: Tunnel Entrance

1. Michael Lopatic, the Pennsylvania insurrectionist pictured above and another anti-abortion extremist who gained notoriety for his 2020 posts in which he shot two pheasants that he nicknamed "Joe and Kamala," died of natural causes in July 2022 at the age of 58. The former Marine tried to stop officers from coming to the aid of the officer we'll soon discuss by punching one in the head, stripping him of his body-worn camera, and destroying it. 
2. Justin Jersey of Michigan brought a large stick to attack officers, passed it to another seditionist, and charged at police, grabbed an officer's face, wrestled with him over the baton, and knocked him to the ground. This is the officer captured in that infamous photo lying facedown on the ground being brutalized, and he's the officer the following men proceeded to assault. Jersey pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement inflicting serious bodily injury and was sentenced to 51 months in prison, three years of probation, and $32,165.65 to cover the officer's medical bills. He is scheduled to serve his sentence at FCI Milan in Michigan through mid-2025.
3. Logan Barnhart, a bodybuilder and romance cover model from Michigan who had been convicted as a teenager of involvement in a riot in his home state, was sentenced to three years in prison, three years of probation, and $5,688 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty to assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon for helping to drag this officer down the flight of stairs before swinging a flagpole at police guarding the tunnel entrance. He is being held in the federal medical center in Lexington, Kentucky, until late 2025.
4. Mason Courson of Florida has a long history of battery-related crimes, and on January 6th he beat this defenseless officer with a police baton, which earned him a guilty plea to the same charge as Barnhart and a prison sentence of 57 months followed by three years of probation and $2,000 restitution. He will call the FCI Coleman home through the very end of 2025.
5. Jack Whitton of Georgia became the fourth defendant in this case to plead guilty and the third to this same charge in September 2022 when he admitted that he kicked a line of officers, swung a crutch at another officer and tried to steal his baton, and joined Barnhart in dragging the officer in question in this case down the steps before, as you probably guessed, kicking him. He was sentenced to 57 months in prison, 3 years of probation, and $2,100 restitution.
6. Peter Francis Stager of Arkansas became arguably the most memorable defendant in this case when he attacked the officer lying on the ground with a flagpole as he was being dragged down the steps and was captured on camera saying that "death is the only remedy" for members of Congress. He pleaded guilty to assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon, was sentenced to 52 months in prison, and was released to a halfway house in April 2024.
7. Jeffrey Sabol, a geophysicist from Colorado, remains detained after he slit his wrists and tried to flee the country to Switzerland ahead of his January 6th arrest, apparently worried he'd be charged with sedition. He wasn't charged with sedition, but he was charged with 13 felonies for grabbing a police baton, helping to pull the officer down the stairs, pressing the baton against the back of the officer's neck, and repeatedly punching him. In a stipulated bench trial, Sabol was convicted of three felony charges and sentenced to 63 months in prison.
8. Clayton Mullins of Kentucky is arguably the least serious case of these 18 men, but his actions still constitute three serious felonies for pulling the officer by the legs into the crowd as he tried to crawl back toward the police line and shoving an officer who tried to come to his colleague's aid. Mullins has also pushed the hilarious claim that he was actually trying to help the officer, claims his family and friends appear to buy. In any case, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He gets to enjoy FCI Ashland through April 2026.
9. Ronald McAbee of Tennessee is a fascinating case. Charged with six felonies, McAbee is a former sheriff's deputy who wore his uniform and a pair of spiked gloves on January 6th and pulled the prone officer into the crowd while violently punching, shoving, and shouting threats at officers trying to assist the vulnerable officer. McAbee had a Three Percenters logo on his vest that day and was later pictured smiling and holding a newspaper that read "Insurrection!" Perhaps his biggest crime that day was those white sunglasses he wore, but in any case, he wound up pleading guilty to a felony and a misdemeanor and being convicted of five more felonies at trial; he was sentenced to 70 months in prison. He is serving his sentence through August 2026 at the FMC in Rochester.

     In short, justice is coming. Of these 18 men, one has passed away and 17 have been convicted (16 sentenced and one awaiting sentencing). In the meantime, four men charged in the assault on Officer Michael Fanone have pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms of 86, 90, 50, and 151 months; a fifth man has been arrested. The DOJ just yesterday arrested the second of the two men who assaulted Officer Jeffrey Smith (who later died by suicide) with explosives outside of the Obama residence in Washington, D.C. The man who assaulted Brian Sicknick is serving his 80-month prison sentence through 2026. More than 400 have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement on January 6th, and upwards of 300 more of these violence-related January 6th arrests may be coming. That's accountability; that's justice.