DOJ wants 21 years for Trump supporter who 'viciously' assaulted officers on Jan. 6
U.S. seeks 21 years in prison for David Dempsey, a Trump supporter and "one of the most violent" Jan. 6 rioters, according to prosecutors.
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors will try to persuade a federal judge Friday to sentence a Donald Trump supporter who stood in front of a gallows and spoke of his desire to hang Democratic politicians before he assaulted numerous police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to more than 21 years in federal prison.
David Dempsey, prosecutors say, "viciously" assaulted law enforcement officers at the lower west tunnel of the Capitol, where some of the worst violence took place on Jan. 6, 2021. According to prosecutors, Dempsey climbed over fellow rioters "like human scaffolding" and used "his hands, feet, flag poles, crutches, pepper spray, broken pieces of furniture, and anything else he could get his hands on" as weapons against police officers. The government is seeking 262 months in federal prison, which would be one of the longest sentences given to any Jan. 6 rioter.
"Dempsey was one of the most violent rioters, during one of the most violent stretches of time, at the scene of the most violent confrontations at the Capitol on January 6, 2021," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
Dempsey assaulted numerous officers but pleaded guilty specifically in connection with attacks on Washington Police Detective Phuson Nguyen, whom he hit with "a torrent of pepper spray" just after another rioter compromised Nguyen's mask, and Washington Police Sgt. Jason Mastony, who was hit so hard with a metal crutch that he collapsed in a daze and was left with a gash in his head, prosecutors wrote.
David Dempsey pepper-spraying Detective Phuson Nguyen on Jan. 6, 2021.United States District Court"Though Dempsey has pled guilty only for his assaults on Detective Nguyen and Sergeant Mastony, his violent assault on other officers defending the Capitol was relentless: swinging pole-like weapons more than 20 times, spraying chemical agents at least three times, hurling objects at officers at least ten times, stomping on the heads of police officers as he perched above them five times, attempting to steal a riot shield and baton, and incessantly hurling threats and insults at police while rallying other rioters to join his onslaught," prosecutors wrote.
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