A California man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the second-longest sentence yet in hundreds of prosecutions of riot participants.
David Nicholas Dempsey pleaded guilty in January to two counts of assaulting police officers with a dangerous weapon, landing him a sentence only surpassed by Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's 22-year sentence, according to a report from the Guardian.
Prosecutors accused Dempsey of being one of the most violent members of the mob that stormed the Capitol in protest of Congress certifying the 2020 election for President Biden, detailing how the California native stomped the heads of police officers, struck officers with makeshift weapons, including a metal crutch, poles, pepper spray, and broken pieces of furniture.
He also used other rioters as "human scaffolding," climbing on top of them to reach officers guarding a tunnel to the building, injuring two of the officers. Dempsey, who worked as a construction and fast-food worker, also attacked a fellow demonstrator who was attempting to disarm him, prosecutors said.
"Your conduct on Jan. 6 was exceptionally egregious," U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth told Dempsey. "You did not get carried away in the moment."
Dempsey apologized for his conduct during the sentencing, telling the judge that his actions were "reprehensible" while also apologizing to the police officers he attacked.
"You were performing your duties, and I responded with hostility and violence," Dempsey said.
Dempsey had a previous conviction for burglary, theft and assault in California after he attacked protesters peacefully demonstrating against former President Trump in October 2019. He served 200 days of jail time for that conviction.
Prosecutors sought a 21-year sentence for Dempsey, arguing that he "is political violence personified." His defense, meanwhile, argued that the government's sentencing recommendation was "ridiculous" and argued for a sentence of six years and six months.
"It makes him a statistic," his attorney, Amy Collins, said. "It doesn’t consider the person he is, how much he has grown."
Ultimately, the judge sided closer to the prosecution's preference, settling on 20 years for Dempsey, who has already been in prison since August 2021.
