NJ Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Jan. 6 Charges

A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges stemming from the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, including assaulting law enforcement.

Christopher Joseph Quaglin, 37, was found guilty last year on 14 charges, including 12 felonies and two misdemeanors. The D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a declaration he traveled to Washington on January 6, 2021 after posting on social media that he planned to fight the government and urged others to bring gas masks, bulletproof vests and knives to the nation’s capital.

Authorities said Quaglin was part of the first group of protesters who broke down police barricades at Peace Circle, adding that he engaged in violence with officers once he reached the West Front of the Capitol.

Quaglin repeatedly pushed officers before attacking a U.S. Capitol Police sergeant, grabbing him by the neck and attacking him, authorities said, adding that Quaglin struck another officer with a gas mask and continued to push officers and enter in confrontation with the police line throughout the day. .

Quaglin took aim at U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden before and after he was sentenced, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

“You are Trump’s worst mistake of 2016,” he told McFadden, who was appointed by Trump in 2017. Quaglin also said the riot was not an insurrection, saying that if it had been, he would have brought a long gun, of according to the AP.

McFadden said during the hearing that Quaglin’s actions were “shocking” and “illegal.”

“Jan. 6 is not simply an anomaly for you,” McFadden said. “You allowed it to define you.”

More than 1,424 people have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including more than 500 people who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation is still ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story