A Jan. 6, 2021 rioter has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for brutally assaulting a police officer, Politico reports. Albuquerque Cosper Head of Tennessee pleaded guilty to yanking Washington, D.C., police officer Michael Fanone away from police lines and shouting "I got one!" before other violent actors in the crowd dragged him away. Fanone was tased and robbed of his badge and radio. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson described Head's attack on Fanone as among the most chilling moments of violence on Jan. 6.. Head is the latest Capitol riot defendant to face a lengthy jail sentence for assaulting police. Jackson also has sentenced Kyle Young, who also pleaded guilty to his role in the assault on Fanone, to 86 months. Jackson delivered a warning at Head's sentencing: “The dark shadow of tyranny, unfortunately, has not gone away... Some people are directing their vitriol at officer Fanone and not at the people who summoned the mob in the first place.” Thomas Webster, a former New York City officer who was convicted of assaulting a D.C. officer attempting to hold the line outside the Capital, must serve a longer sentence. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced him to 10 years in prison last month.
Nearly 900 people have been charged for their actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and more than 400 have pleaded guilty or have been found guilty. The number of defendants facing sentences for more serious crimes, like assaulting a police officer or seeking to disrupt Congress has begun to climb as more complicated cases near their conclusions. Jackson noted that Head pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility. Jackson also acknowledged the defense's concerns that Head's absence would create a hardship for his fiancee and three daughters, who relied on his financial support and presence. “Whether someone commits a robbery in an urban alley or a rural minimart … It is the partners who love them, the daughters and the sons … who bear the burden of carrying on for a while without them,” she said, adding, “It was the defendant who made the decision to leave them behind and face the real risk he could get arrested.”