Article author:
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man pleaded guilty Wednesday to attacking a police officer during a storming of the US Capitol during the January 2021 riots.
Matthew Council, 50, of Riverview, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court for the District of Columbia to one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a law enforcement officer and one count of interfering with a law enforcement officer. pleaded guilty to one felony count. Civil disorder and four misdemeanors, according to court records.
At a sentencing hearing scheduled for November 1, he faces up to 16 years in prison.
The Council was arrested in the Capitol during a riot.
The council joined others who challenged Democratic Party Joe Biden's victory over then-President Donald Trump in his 2020 election, according to court documents. On January 6, 2021, a mob attacked the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from proving Biden's election results to Republican Donald Trump, officials said. Five people died in the riot.
According to the criminal complaint, the Council and others gathered illegally on the west side of the Capitol. A police officer sprayed him with a chemical irritant, but he climbed the stairs to the Northwest Square. entered the door. Prosecutors said the council tried to cut in and push back the line of police officers at the Capitol to create an opening for others to get through.
After January 6, 2021, More than 860 people have been arrested in almost every 50 states for crimes related to the US Capitol break-in, officials said. More than 260 people have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement.
