WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge on Monday imposed a 30-month prison sentence on a man who brandished a Confederate flag outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and pepper sprayed two Capitol police officers.
Isreal Easterday, who was 19 years old when he participated in the riot, faced a potential sentence of 12 years and seven months per to the Justice Department’s recommendation.
Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg acknowledged the severity of Easterday’s actions and the serious injuries the two officers he sprayed suffered, but imposed a sentence five times lower than the government’s recommendation.
“The fact that you were very young and may not have fully understood what you were a part of” played a role in the Barack Obama appointee's decision, Boasberg said.
The now-23-year-old Easterday, who grew up in an Amish family in rural Kentucky and was homeschooled by his mother until he was 14, apologized for pepper-spraying the officers and said it was the “stupidest mistake” of his entire life.
“I’m here before you today to accept responsibility for my actions, to ask for your mercy and to ask for the nation’s forgiveness,” Easterday said in an emotional court address Monday.
Despite the lighter sentence, Boasberg agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon that Easterday did not seem to accept full responsibility for his actions. He noted that during his jury trial in October, Easterday seemed to show remorse for pepper-spraying only one of the two officers.
According to the government's sentencing memorandum, Easterday was part of the mob that breached the police line on the Eastern front of the Capitol. He marched with the crowd carrying the Confederate battle flag to the East Rotunda doors.
Once there, he was passed a can of pepper spray from another member of the crowd, which he then used “point-blank” against U.S. Capitol Police officer Joshua Pollitt, who collapsed and for hours was partially blind.
Easterday then got a second can of pepper spray from another rioter and used it to “crop-dust” a group of officers guarding the doors, causing similar injuries to another officer, Miguel Acevedo, prosecutors say.
He then entered the Capitol and roamed through the building for about 13 minutes before leaving.
A jury convicted Easterday on nine counts: civil disorder; assaulting officers using a dangerous weapon; entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon; disorderly conduct in the Capitol; physical violence in the Capitol; and parading in the Capitol.
Brittany Davidson, a federal defender from the Eastern District of Virginia, urged Judge Boasberg to ignore the government’s lengthy recommendation, arguing that it equated Easterday with other rioters who led far-right organizations like the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys.
She noted that Easterday did not plan his actions on Jan. 6, distinguishing him from the many other rioters who received 10 or more years in prison like the government was recommending. “His conduct was a reflection of a horrible decision that a teenager made,” Davidson said.
Even Gordon didn't expect Boasberg to order the government's 151-month recommendation, the prosecutor said, given that the judge and his colleagues at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia have opted to impose lighter sentences for rioters who were first-time offenders.
Before passing down his sentence, Boasberg said Easterday’s assaults were egregious because the officers were merely doing their job to protect the Capitol and the elected representatives within, adding that he treated them like an “opposing military force.”
Further, Easterday carried a Confederate battle flag, a “sign of rebellion” he may not have understood at the time, but which motivated his fellow rioters to violently assault officers that day, the judge said.
Boasberg ordered Easterday begin his detention immediately, allowing him a chance to say goodbye to a large group of family members who attending the hearing before U.S. Marshals detained him.
In the 39 months since Jan. 6, more than 1,387 people have been charged in connection to the riot, with 493 having been charged with assaulting police officers, 129 of whom were also charged with the use of a dangerous weapon. Approximately 520 defendants have been sentenced to prison.
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