Ex-National Guard member could get over two years for assaulting police in U.S. Capitol riot

A former National Guard member who served in Iraq will on Thursday learn his punishment for punching two police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has scheduled a sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) for Mark Leffingwell of Seattle, who pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge.

A former National Guard member who served in Iraq will on Thursday learn his punishment for punching two police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has scheduled a sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) for Mark Leffingwell of Seattle, who pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge. Jackson is one of several federal judges in the District of Columbia who have sharply criticized the Jan. 6 riot, calling it an "anti-democratic call for martial law" and "a crime against democracy itself" at a recent court hearing in an unrelated case.

At the same hearing, Jackson blasted former President Donald Trump for his fiery speech before the deadly attack, saying he and others "stoked" the crowd. Prosecutors have asked Jackson to sentence Leffingwell, 52, to 27 months in prison.

Jackson said at a court hearing in October that federal sentencing guidelines recommended Leffingwell serve a prison term of 24 to 30 months. "Leffingwell, a military veteran who once defended the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, willingly betrayed his nation and became an enemy of the United States on Jan. 6," federal prosecutors said in a court filing last month.

Mark Carroll, a lawyer for Leffingwell, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The Justice Department said last month that more than 225 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or government employees during the Jan. 6 attack.

Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted that day, the Justice Department said. Four officers died by suicide in the aftermath of the attack.

 

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