January 6 rioter who stomped on police officers and attacked them with poles gets 20 years

One of the harshest sentences yet has been handed down in one of the Jan. 6 cases.

According to The Associated Press, David Dempsey of Van Nuys, California was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for his conduct at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection against the 2020 election results.

Prosecutors said Dempsey stomped on police officers’ heads and swung poles at officers defending a tunnel. He also struck an officer in the head with a metal crutch, attacked police with pepper spray and broken pieces of furniture, and climbed on other rioters like "human scaffolding" to attack officers guarding a tunnel entrance.

At least two police officers were hurt in his attacks.

Read also: The day democracy was tested: A deep dive into Trump's attempted coup on January 6

Dempsey pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting police officers, apologized to the victims, and called his conduct "despicable." He was originally arrested in August 2021 and charged with using a dangerous weapon, obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder. Many rioters were hit with obstruction charges, although a recent Supreme Court ruling cast doubt on the validity of that specific charge in the context of rioting at the Capitol.

The only Jan. 6 defendant so far to receive a longer sentence than Dempsey is Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right Proud Boys group, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years.

More than 1,400 people so far have been arrested for alleged involvement in the attack on the Capitol, which took place after months of conspiracy theories circulating about the election on the right, and after former President Donald Trump gave a speech on the National Mall urging supporters to "fight like hell."

Most of these cases ended up with far lesser sentences for misdemeanors like disorderly conduct and unlawful picketing.