Capitol rioter who beat fallen officer with flag sentenced to prison

WASHINGTON (CN) — A man who beat a police officer with a flagpole and was among the most violent clashes outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was ordered to prison for 52 months on Monday.

Peter Stager, 44, was sentenced to prison for four years and four months for participating in a scrum of rioters on the steps of the Capitol, where he used the pole of an American flag to beat a fallen officer who was pulled into the crowd, face down and defenseless.

Stager, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon in February, took responsibility for his actions and expressed hope that no similar event would happen again in a statement before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, a Barack Obama appointee, passed down his ruling.

“I hope the best for this country, I hope we can heal and stop being so divisive,” Stager said. “I hope we stop listening to bad leaders with bad ideas.”

According to the Justice Department’s sentencing memo, soon after Stager struck the fallen officer three times, he was recorded calling lawmakers — who at that time were sheltering inside the Capitol — “treasonous traitors” and blaming the officers for protecting them.

“Death is the only remedy for what’s in that building,” Stager said in a video from the insurrection. “Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy, that is the only remedy that they get.”

Justice Department attorney Benet Kearney keyed in on those statements, saying that while he clearly wasn’t successful, Stager had dangerous and deadly intent as he forced his way toward the Capitol.

During Monday’s hearing, she played videos taken on Jan. 6 of the violence outside the Lower West Terrace and show Stager watching other rioters attacking police, then deciding to join, “adding his rage, adding his weapon and adding his force to the attack,” Kearney said.

According to the initial complaint against Stager, the Metropolitan Police Officer who was dragged into the crowd, identified only by his initials B.M., received deep bruises and cuts from the attack.

B.M.’s attackers also included other Jan. 6 defendants like Mason Courson, who struck the officer with a stolen police baton and was described as “one of the wolves” who descended on fallen police officers by Kearney during his June sentencing hearing.

Courson, who was also sentenced by Contreras, received 57 months in prison for his actions. Stager’s defense attorney Amy Collins made note of Courson’s sentence and the similarities between his actions and her client’s. She argued that, as he did for Courson, Contreras should again order a sentence much lower than the Justice Department’s request of 78 months in prison.

She also emphasized Stager’s difficult childhood: His mother worked as a prostitute and became pregnant with him and five other children because of her work, then she abandoned them in a motel room when Stager was six years old. Collins described a long streak of abuse he endured in the foster care system and at the hands of his adoptive parents.

“His conduct can only appropriately be viewed through the lens of a trauma survivor,” Collins said, arguing that her client had joined the violent crowd to provide aid to the rioters injured by police.

Contreras didn’t buy that argument, using language he had used for similar defendants such as Courson to express his concern that Stager’s violence would not be limited to just the officer he attacked on Jan. 6.

“One who does not hesitate to attack a police officer will not hesitate to attack a member of the public,” Contreras said.

Right before he adjourned the courtroom, Contreras warned Stager to not hold his breath for the healing he said he hoped for in his testimony, strongly suggesting that he take advantage of mental health treatment while in prison.

“There’s going to be a lot more reason to get worked up in the near future, so keep your head about you,” Contreras said.

In the 30 months since the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department has charged more than 1,000 people for their actions during the riot. Approximately 561 people have been sentenced. The investigation remains ongoing, with approximately 323 people who committed violent acts still unidentified.

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