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Washington
Peter Francis Stager, an Arkansas resident who beat a police officer during the US Capitol Hill riots on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.
During the riots, Stager struck a Metropolitan Police Department officer at least three times using a flagpole attached to an American flag. While Stager inflicted the physical damage, his fellow rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd, outside the Capitol. Additionally, Stager stood over and hurled profanities at another officer, who was seriously injured at the time.
“Stager joined a prolonged, multi-assailant attack on police officers, which resulted in injuries to the officers," the court noted.
“Stager himself wielded a flagpole and used it to strike at a vulnerable officer, who, lying face down in a mob of rioters had no means of defending himself.”
According to the court filings, Stager was working as a truck driver when he found himself in Washington DC on January 5, 2021, due to a scheduling conflict with his dispatch. After delivering the load of produce he was transporting nearby, Stager decided to not leave for Arkansas due to the cost of fuel and the fact that he would not be making money on an empty load.
As Trump was holding the "Stop the Steal" rally on January 6, Stager decided to watch the speech, a decision that he will regret for the rest of his life - his lawyers told the court.
“I take full responsibility for my actions. I was naïve, reckless, selfish, and emotionally unstable...I have caused a wake of devastation and pain to my loved ones, my community, and many others," Stager wrote.
Other rioters
Stager is not the only January 6 rioter to face a tough sentence for his actions. Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania man found guilty of felony assault and other charges for pepper-spraying police officers outside the Capitol building was sentenced to 14 years in prison, the longest sentence for anyone convicted in the case.
Also read | Capitol Hill riots: Man who pepper-sprayed police gets 14 year prison sentence
Peter J. Schwartz, 49, was convicted last December at a trial in federal court where evidence showed he was in the vanguard of a mob attacking police at the lower west terrace of the Capitol.
Similarly, Mason Courson, a Florida resident was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison last month while Michigan resident Justin Jerse was sentenced to four years and three months behind bars.
Notably, after Donald Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden, a violent mob of insurrectionists, loyal to him, marched on the US Capitol and attempted to overturn the election results. Since then, over 1000 people have been charged with federal crimes, related to the riots with 620 of them pleading guilty.
(With inputs from agencies)
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