A Marine who stormed the US Capitol and apparently gave a Nazi salute in front of the building was sentenced on Friday to almost five years in prison.
Tyler Bradley Dykes of South Carolina was an active-duty Marine when he grabbed a police shield from the hands of two officers and used it to fight his way through police lines during the attack. the Mafia of the then president donald trumpsupporters on January 6, 2021.
Dykes, who pleaded guilty in April to assault charges, had previously been convicted of a crime stemming from the 2017 white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dykes was transferred to federal custody in 2023 after serving a six-month sentence in state prison.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Dykes, 26, to four years and nine months in prison, the Justice Department said.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence five years and three months for Dykes.
“He directly contributed to some of the most extreme episodes of violence on the Capitol’s east front,” prosecutors wrote.
Dykes Lawyers requested a two-year prison sentence. They said Dykes knows his actions on Jan. 6 were “illegal, indefensible and intolerable.”
“Tyler hates his involvement in the Capitol riot,” his lawyers wrote. “He takes full responsibility for his actions. Tyler apologizes for these actions.”
Dykes, then 22, traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend Republican Trump’s rally “Stop the Steal” Rally with two friends from his hometown of Bluffton, South Carolina. After becoming separated from his friends, Dykes ripped the snow fence out of the ground and pushed aside the bike rack barricades as he approached the Capitol.
Later, Dykes joined other protesters in breaking a line of police officers defending the stairs leading to the East Rotunda Doors of the Capitol.
“After reaching the top of the stairs, Dykes celebrated his achievement by performing what appears to be the Sieg Heil salute,” prosecutors wrote.
After stealing the two officers’ riot shield, Dykes entered the Capitol and held it with one hand while raising the other in celebration. He also used the shield to assault officers inside the building, forcing them to retreat down a hallway, prosecutors said.
Dykes gave the shield to an officer after he left the Capitol.
Dykes denied giving the Nazi salute on Jan. 6, but prosecutors say his open-hand gesture was captured on video.
In August 2017, photos captured Dykes joining white supremacists carrying tiki torches in a march through the University of Virginia campus on the eve of the Unite the Right rally. One photo shows him extending his right arm in a Nazi salute and carrying a lit torch in his left hand.
In March 2023, Dykes was arrested on charges related to the march. He pleaded guilty to a felony charge of burning an object with intent to intimidate.
Dykes briefly attended Cornell University in the fall of 2017 before joining the Marine Corps. In May 2023, he was discharged from military service under “except honorable” conditions.
“Instead of honoring his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, Dykes’ criminal activity on January 6 shows that he chose to violate it,” prosecutors wrote.
More than 1,400 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 900 of them were convicted, with about two-thirds receiving prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the U.S. Capitol insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege.
