A 72-year-old Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 46 months—or three years and 10 months—in federal prison for having assaulted a police officer during protests at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The man, Howard C. Richardson, of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 26.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly told Richardson “Your presence and actions in joining other insurrectionists was an inexcusable attack on our democracy,” after he had told the court there was “no excuse” for his behavior and pleaded for mercy, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Richardson was at the West Terrace standing several feet away from the police line. He held a flagpole and “forcefully swung it downward to strike an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department who was standing behind a metal barricade” at about 1:38 p.m, according to the Justice Department, citing court documents….