A Florida member of the Proud Boys was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, despite claiming he was trying to help police officers when he hurled a “heavy rock-like object” at a Capitol building door.
According to CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane, the judge called Anthony Sargent’s defense “laughable,” saying he pushed an officer into the mob to prevent him from arresting another rioter and twice shoved police away from the Capitol as they attempted to fall back to safety.
Sargent later addressed U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, saying: “I wish I hadn’t done it. I’m not a violent person. I have massive respect for law enforcement.”
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But Friedrich interrupted, pointing out that he “at a minimum interfered” with the cops and that “there’s still an inability” to admit responsibility.
MacFarlane noted that Friedrich’s sentencing was rare as she went well above the Justice Department’s proposal of 46 months. Friedrich also ordered 36 months of supervised release and a $2,980 restitution.
A Friday press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia states that open-source videos reveal Sargent trying to break through the north entrance of the Capitol building and pushing with other mob members against police guarding the building. After the rioters broke through, they pursued retreating officers through the halls but were later blocked by a set of locked doors.
The footage showed Sargent pick up an object and throw it twice against the glass panels of the doors with cops standing just on the other side.
During the sentencing hearing, Sargent explained to Friedrich that he tried to break through the inner Capitol doors because he thought people may have been killing each other on the other side, according to CBS News.
But Friedrich dismissed Sargent, remarking that there was a “common thread” in many Jan. 6 cases where defendants suffer from an “inability to see the other perspective.” She later said that he showed “no sign of remorse until today.”
Sargent, whom the online Jan. 6 investigative community Sedition Hunters call #BigBrickPitcher, was identified by the FBI using two publicly available photographs. The first came from a 2017 magazine article from St. Augustine Social titled “BMX Factor: Anthony Sargent of First Coast BMX,” and the second was from a story posted to the news portal One News Page called “How Canada Has Handled the Proud Boys,” which showed Sargent at a rally wearing yellow and black, the Proud Boys colors.
