FILE - Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. A new poll shows that many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of their democracy and the way elected officials are chosen. The results of the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey come nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
BM JLMWASHINGTON (AP) — A Delaware man who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with his Confederate flag-toting father was sentenced on Monday to two years behind bars.
Hunter Seefried, 24, of felony and misdemeanor charges by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden in June. Hunter and Kevin Seefried opted for a bench trial, which is decided by a judge, rather than have their case be heard by a jury.
The father and son traveled to Washington from their home in Laurel, Delaware, to hear Trump’s speech at the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. They were among the first rioters to approach the building near the Senate Wing Door, according to prosecutors.
After watching other rioters use a police shield and a wooden plank to break a window, Hunter Seefried used a gloved fist to clear a large shard of glass in one of the broken windowpanes, prosecutors said. The judge found that two other rioters had destroyed the window before Seefried cleared the piece of glass.
Widely published photographs showed Kevin Seefried carrying a Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol after he and Hunter, then 22, entered the building through a broken window.
An attorney for Hunter Seefried had asked for probation and home detention instead of prison time. He said in court papers that his client only went to the Capitol that day because his father pushed him to join. And he noted that the son never hurt or threatened anyone at the Capitol.
“Hunter is a decent, hardworking and caring young man, who was misled and got caught up in the unfortunate events of January 6, 2021," attorney Edson Bostic said in an email. “He is very remorseful and wished he could relive and change his behavior that day.”
Kevin Seefried is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
Both men were convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, the joint session of Congress for certifying the Electoral College that day.
The judge also convicted the Seefrieds of misdemeanor charges that they engaged in disorderly conduct and illegally demonstrated inside the building. But he acquitted Hunter Seefried of other misdemeanor charges.
They are among about 900 people who have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. More than 420 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses.
Roughly 300 Capitol riot defendants have been sentenced, with sentences ranging from probation to 10 years behind bars.
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