A California man with a history of political violence was sentenced on Friday to 20 years in prison for repeatedly attacking police with flagpoles and other makeshift weapons during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
David Nicholas Dempsey’s sentence is among the longest among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. Prosecutors described him as one of the most violent members of the mob of former US president Donald Trump supporters that attacked the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify US President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.
Dempsey, who is from Van Nuys, stomped on police officers’ heads. He swung poles at officers defending a tunnel, struck an officer in the head with a metal crutch and attacked police with pepper spray and broken pieces of furniture, prosecutors said.
He climbed atop other rioters, using them like “human scaffolding” to reach officers guarding a tunnel entrance.
Dempsey pleaded guilty in January to two counts of assaulting police officers with a dangerous weapon.
Only former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio has received a longer sentence for the Jan. 6 attack.
Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years for orchestrating a plot to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump to Biden.
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