Yahoo Movies Capitol Rioter Sentenced to More than 7 Years in Prison for Assaulting Police Officer on Jan. 6
Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021
Kyle Young has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
Calling Young a "one man wrecking ball," U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced him after hearing details of the events pertaining to the Iowa man's sustained assault on a Capitol police officer.
"What happened on Jan. 6 and the effort to keep the spirit alive is the utter antithesis of what America stands for," she said in her ruling. "It is the pure embodiment of tyranny and authoritarianism."
The sentence is the longest that has been handed down so far for the more than 919 individuals who have been charged with crimes during the events on Jan. 6.
"You were not prosecuted for being a Trump supporter. You were not arrested or charged and you will not be sentenced for exercising your first amendment rights," Judge Jackson told Young, according to Politico. "You are not a political prisoner … You were trying to stop the singular thing that makes America America: the peaceful transfer of power. That's what 'Stop the Steal' meant."
Jose Luis Magana/AP/Shutterstock Michael Fanone outside the courthouse after Kyle Young was sentenced
The officer who Young assaulted, Michael Fanone, shared his emotional testimony during the hearing, according to ABC News. He talked about being dragged, beaten and tased before Young attempted to reach for his gun. The footage was all caught on Fanone's body camera.
"During those moments, I remember thinking there was a very good chance I would be torn apart or shot to death with my own weapon. I thought of my four daughters, who might lose their dad," he said.
The assault only stopped, Fanone said, when he told his attackers he was a father. The beating caused him to have a heart attack, and he cites the beating as the reason he has since retired from the force.
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Young cried and apologized to Fanone during his testimony, adding he wished he could take back what he did that day, according to the Associated Press.
"I hope someday you forgive me," he said.
Young also admitted to handing a stun gun to another rioter, who then turned it on Fanone. He also said he grabbed the officer's hand, so he couldn't use it to protect himself from the attack. Judge Jackson took particular issue with the fact that Young went to the Capitol with his teenage son, whom he encouraged to participate by using a strobe light to blind police officers.
Fanone told the judge that Young should get 10 years in prison.
"What I hope you do with that time is, I hope you suffer," he told Young.
Young initially faced more than a dozen charges, but entered a plea to the single charge of assault of an officer. His attorney argued that he had only held Fanone's wrist for two or three seconds, and tried to convince the judge that seven years was excessive.
"You are one of the most serious Jan. 6 offenders in my caseload and you were personally involved in and instrumental to one of the most horrific attacks on officers encased in this building," the judge told Young. "I have seldom in my years on the bench been presented with anything like this."
Young will serve three years under supervision upon his release, at which point a hearing will be held to determine his restitution upon his completion of 100 hours of community service.
