Prosecutors had sought 10 years in federal prison for Alberts, saying that charging the police line while armed with a gun and wearing metal-plated body armor and a gas mask deserved a significant sentence.
“For hours, and often just steps from the Capitol Building, Alberts screamed at police officers that they were ‘domestic terrorists’ and were ‘treasonous, communist motherf—ers,’ who were improperly stopping the rioters ‘from doing what’s right,'” prosecutors wrote. “He exclaimed that he and the other rioters were there ‘to do what we are constitutionally allowed to do’ — that is, they had ‘a right’ and ‘a duty’ to overthrow the government of the United States and install a new government.”
“Since his January 6, 2021 arrest, Alberts has expressed no remorse for his crimes, instead seeking praise for being a ‘hero’ and ‘protector’ during his assault on the Capitol while slandering the police officers who valiantly struggled that day to protect it,” prosecutors continued.
Prosecutors also pointed out that Albert urinated on a wall of the Capitol building while yelling “f— D.C. Metro,” and later threw a bottle at the police line. He was eventually arrested after nightfall when a police officer noticed a bulge on his hip that he recognized to be a weapon.
“Through its sentence, the Court must send an unambiguous message to Alberts that military service does not justify his betrayal of the United States on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors argued.
Capitol Police Officer Stephen Sherman gave a victim impact statement at the sentencing, saying he thought that rioters were going to take out guns and begin “assassinating myself and fellow officers” on the western front of the Capitol. He spoke about being unable to reach his wife, another Capitol Police officer, after he was attacked by pepper spray for a second time, and how he thought she was dead.
“You came to the Capitol that day to start a war,” Sherman told Alberts.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
