WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania man was sentenced on Friday to nearly three years in prison for assaulting an Associated Press photographer and attacking police officers with a stun gun during the US Capitol riot.
Alan Byerly apologized to his victims before US District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced him to two years and 10 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Byerly will get credit for the more than 15 months he already has served behind bars since his arrest, according to his lawyers.
“I didn’t go to D.C. to harm anyone,” Byerly told the judge.
Byerly, 55, pleaded guilty in July to assaulting AP photographer John Minchillo and then activating a stun gun as he charged at police officers who were trying to hold off the mob that formed outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Byerly said he was an “antagonistic jerk” when he confronted the officers. He also said he assaulted Minchillo after hearing a voice say, “That’s antifa. Get him out of here.”
Minchillo was wearing a lanyard with AP lettering when Byerly and other rioters attacked him on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, according to a court filing accompanying Byerly’s guilty plea. Byerly grabbed Minchillo, pushed him backward, and dragged him toward a crowd, the filing says. Another AP photographer captured the assault on video.
“I should have never gotten involved, and I’m deeply sorry for my actions,” Byerly said.
Prosecutors sought a sentence of at least three years and 10 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Defense lawyers requested a sentence below an estimated guidelines range of 37 to 46 months in prison.
Moss said he believed Byerly is genuinely remorseful for his role in the mob’s “assault on democracy.” The judge said it was clear that Byerly couldn’t have injured anybody with the inexpensive stun gun that he brought to the Capitol, but the officers couldn’t have known that given the sound that it made.
“They were clearly frightened by it,” Moss said. “It undoubtedly added to the fear the officers felt that day.”
Minchillo “must have been extremely frightened, as well,” the judge added.
None of Byerly’s victims attended his sentencing hearing.
Byerly bought the stun gun before traveling from his home in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C., for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Leaving the rally before then-President Donald Trump finished speaking, Byerly went to the west side of the Capitol and joined other rioters in using a metal Trump billboard as a battering ram against police, prosecutors said.
Approximately 900 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 420 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses. Nearly 300 have been sentenced, with roughly half of them getting terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years, according to an AP review of court records.
More than 100 police officers were injured during the Jan. 6 riot. Over 270 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees at the Capitol, according to the Justice Department. Byerly is one of several defendants charged with assaulting members of the news media or destroying their equipment at the Capitol. (AP)
Graham appeals Ga. subpoena
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday appealed to the US Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court order that he must appear before a Georgia grand jury investigating possible attempts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to disrupt the state’s 2020 presidential election.
Graham’s lawyers had asked the appeals court to block a subpoena from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, claiming that a sitting senator is shielded from such investigations. But a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Thursday denied Graham’s request and upheld a lower-court ruling narrowing the range of questions prosecutors can ask.
‘’Senator Graham has failed to demonstrate that this approach will violate his rights under the Speech and Debate Clause,’’ the order states, referring to the constitutional provision that protects lawmakers from being questioned about legislative activity.
Graham can ask the full appeals court to reconsider the order or ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
The Atlanta grand jury investigating alleged 2020 presidential election interference has already heard testimony from several Trump lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Boris Epshteyn. Willis has also sought testimony from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Willis wants to question Graham about calls he made to Georgia election officials soon after Trump lost the election to Joe Biden. Prosecutors say Graham has ‘’unique knowledge’' about the Trump campaign and the ‘’multistate, coordinated efforts to influence the results’' of the 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.
Graham’s legal team has said in court filings that his actions were legitimate legislative activity protected by the Constitution’s ‘’speech and debate clause.’’ The senator’s lawyers have said that they have been informed that Graham is a witness — and not a target of the investigation. (Washington Post)
Flynn group recruits vets, police to work at polls
A group co-founded by Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is funding a new campaign to recruit military veterans and police officers to work at the polls for the midterm elections.
The effort, called One More Mission, describes itself in a press release as a “non-partisan, non-party affiliated campaign providing an opportunity for your service to matter” and the “perfect apolitical solution to a national issue.” Its website urges people to sign up to become “a patriot poll worker” on Nov. 8.
One More Mission says that it is funded by The America Project, an organization co-founded by Flynn and former Overstock.com Chief Executive Officer Patrick Byrne, both prominent backers of the former president’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen. On Dec. 18, 2020, Flynn urged Trump to consider seizing voting machines, according to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The America Project website encourages poll watching and challenges to voters. It includes a series of “election integrity” manuals for nine states, including the swing states Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. The organization also recently funded a Georgia group that unsuccessfully challenged tens of thousands of voter registrations in a Democratic county in suburban Atlanta.
Kristen Davis, a spokeswoman for The America Project, said the One Mission Project isn’t led by Flynn, Byrne, or Flynn’s brother Joe, another co-founder.
“The America Project has provided some financial support for the campaign as well as many other initiatives we believe in such as border911.com, the National Coaltion of Frontline Workers, the Maricopa County audits and many others,” she said.
The outreach campaign is being managed by Kyle Reyes, CEO of Silent Partner Marketing in East Granby, Connecticut, and executive director of Law Enforcement Today, a police-owned media company that is considered to have a far-right bias by mediabiasfactcheck.com. (Bloomberg)