Indiana man and Capitol riot defendant Curtis Logan Tate pleaded guilty in court late last week to felony offenses that in original federal law come with a combined total of up to 60 years in prison. Specifically, Tate admitted to three counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding police with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and each count carries the maximum possible sentence associated with any iteration of that assault charge: 20 years.
Fighting with police officers outside the Capitol across a span of multiple hours that afternoon, Tate used a variety of weapons including a baton that he’d brought with him. His implements of choice also included makeshift weapons like office supplies presumably originating inside the Capitol building and passed back outside as fellow participants in the mob continued their assault. Notably, Tate also posted video footage to the social media platform Instagram that documented his eventually admitted participation, doing so right amid the original violence taking place.
And like other Capitol riot defendants facing more serious charges, Tate reportedly joined the violence against police seen in and around the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace tunnel, the presence of which was reportedly the result of construction for the then-upcoming presidential inauguration for Joe Biden.
Tate used that metal baton against one officer’s hand and another’s helmet, leading to police deploying pepper spray both times in a bid to push him back. “At approximately 4:31 p.m., Tate threw a black speaker box at police officers protecting the entrance to the Tunnel. The speaker box struck an MPD officer in the left arm. Tate also threw a shoe at the MPD officer,” explains a new press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office for Washington, D.C. Tate later used a broken table leg and a floor lamp. His sentencing is scheduled for July, though that can change.
