Two more individuals have been arrested for assaulting law enforcement officers during the savage attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters earlier this year, and if convicted, each of these latest individuals to be arrested could face up to decades in prison. The Capitol rioters in question are Texas residents Donald Hazard and Lucas Denney, whose charges include civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and assaulting law enforcement with dangerous weapons or to the point of inflicting bodily injury. The last offense alone comes with a potential sentence of up to 20 years, if found guilty. Obstruction of an official proceeding can also culminate in up to 20 years behind bars.
A federal judge sentenced a Georgia man to more than two years in prison for threatening to assassinate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi following the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. #gapolhttps://t.co/r0t8w6aP6Q
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 14, 2021
While these individuals may end up facing sentences of a considerably shorter length, the possibilities of decades in prison make the seriousness of this situation clear. As of Tuesday, both Hazard and Denney were reported by the Justice Department to have been in detention ahead of further proceedings.
A Colorado man accused of attacking two police officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has been arrested and is being held by federal authorities, prosecutors say. https://t.co/ayEHF2S1J6
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 15, 2021
As for what exactly that these individuals actually did, the Justice Department says in a press release that, late last year, Denney “used social media and other means to recruit members to join his militia group, called the Patriot Boys of North Texas, and travel with him to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6.” Somehow, he and Hazard got in touch — on Christmas of last year, the two of them were discovered to have been discussing plans to head to D.C. Once at the Capitol, the Justice Department says that video footage from the scene “depicts Hazard grappling with U.S. Capitol Police officers as he fell down a set of stairs under a scaffolding erected on the west side of the Capitol building,” adding that “Hazard fought with one officer as they were both falling; that officer was knocked unconscious and sustained injuries to his head, foot, and arm.”
Cheney says dozens of texts to Meadows “urged immediate action by the president” on Jan. 6. She says multiple Fox hosts, including Ingraham and Hannity, urged Meadows to get Trump to deter riots. Even Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows multiple times to get his dad to do something
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 14, 2021
Having any part in or connection to knocking a police officer unconscious on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol building… if this guy thought that he could get away with it, then that’s just deranged, on top of the abhorrent nature of his initial acts. Elsewhere on the Capitol grounds, Denney engaged in his own physical confrontations with law enforcement personnel during the January violence, including by swinging a large metal pole at an officer. The documented instances of his run-ins with law enforcement go well on from there. Among other examples, he was also at the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol building, where he participated in crowd-wide efforts to use their weight to force themselves into the building. It’s there that, at some point, D.C. police officer Daniel Hodges was infamously crushed. Read more from federal authorities here.
Among the newest US Capitol riot cases is USA vs. Donald Hazard of Texas
Feds say Hazard, 43, fought w/ police officer & entered Parliamentarian's office
And they say he was equipped w/ tactical vest and this particularly distinctive helmet ===> pic.twitter.com/2xBkp5QbFK
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 15, 2021
