Second highest sentence

20 years in prison for violence during the US Capitol storm

Here, David Dempsey kicks police officers on the head during the storming of the Capitol.

(Bild: APA/AP)

A US court has sentenced one of the attackers on the US Capitol to 20 years' imprisonment for the violence during the storming in January 2021. This is the second-highest sentence to date in connection with the Capitol storming. 

The indictment stated that 37-year-old David Dempsey "used his hands, his feet, flagpoles, crutches, pepper spray, broken pieces of furniture and anything else he could get his hands on as weapons against the police". 

The prosecution had originally demanded 22 years in prison for the Californian, a former construction worker and fast-food employee. He was one of the "most violent rioters" in the attack on the Capitol. The prosecution also based its demand on the defendant's criminal history. Dempsey had pleaded guilty to two counts of violence against police officers during the Capitol storming.

This bodycam footage of a police officer shows Dempsey committing brutal acts.

(Bild: AP)

Black day in the history of US democracy
The attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which left five people dead and 140 security personnel injured, shook the USA and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy. By storming the seat of Congress, fanatical supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump wanted to prevent Joe Biden's election victory as the new US President from being formally certified there.

Trump incited supporters before the storming
Trump had previously spent weeks spreading the false claim that he had been deprived of a second term in office through massive electoral fraud. Shortly before the storming of the Capitol, the right-wing populist called on his supporters in a speech to march to the Capitol and fight "come hell or high water". Just under a year ago, Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the radical right-wing US Proud Boys militia, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.