A participant in last year’s Trump-incited mob attack on the Capitol who used what was seemingly mace against police and carried a Confederate flag during part of the violence was recently arrested and is facing up to 20 years in prison — or more — on a series of federal criminal charges if eventually found guilty.
The longest sentence imposed so far on any Capitol rioter is a stint of 10 years for Thomas Webster, who tackled an officer to the ground during the riot amid a targeted assault. Prosecutors have at times sought sentences even higher, so although nobody has hit a level closer to 20 years — yet, it remains a possibility and illustrates the seriousness of the offenses. The newly arrested rioter is Israel James Easterday, whose address was listed on his driver’s license as in Kentucky, where a member of local law enforcement identified him when presented with images from the Capitol as authorities sought to confirm the man in the images was, in fact, Easterday. The officer wasn’t previously provided a name with the photos, but they said they were personally familiar with the defendant. (The filing doesn’t give a reason.)
Easterday’s federal charges include assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon (the mace). An officer with the U.S. Capitol Police who was hit with Easterday’s pepper spray provided information used by Justice Department prosecutors in the preceding investigation, including that the spray “got in his eyes and caused him pain,” according to that court filing. Upon watching it, the officer confirmed that a video depicting Easterday spraying an officer shows the incident in which they were themselves involved. Easterday eventually made it inside the Capitol that day before later apparently just leaving. He also helped other rioters get through the East Rotunda door, through which he also entered.
Other new arrests are also continuing, like that of Bryan Shawn Smith, who carried a taser that he briefly activated before passing it off to other rioters — one of whom eventually attempted to use it to assault police. That other rioter has also been charged. Broadly, Smith was involved in violence in the Lower West Terrace tunnel at the Capitol. Others have also been recently sentenced. Ronald Sandlin, who carried a knife during the riot and helped with other rioters getting inside the building, besides also personally confronting police and eventually smoking marijuana inside the Capitol after exiting the Senate chamber, was recently sentenced to 63 months in prison after pleading guilty to a pair of felonies. The length of time is what prosecutors sought, although authorities have also pushed for a $20,000 fine. Sandlin raised some $21,000 connected to claims of legal fees — although he doesn’t have any, because he’s used the services of a court-appointed lawyer.
NEW: Case unsealed against Jan. 6 defendant Isreal James Easterday, who was arrested in Florida. pic.twitter.com/uxbsxe7klh
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) December 15, 2022
