Michael Sparks, the first individual to enter the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021, attack, has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.
Supporters of then-President Donald Trump descended on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent the official certification of the 2020 election results, which gave Joe Biden the presidency. The former president has continued to claim, without evidence, that the election was “rigged” via widespread voter fraud but has denied stoking the violence that took place at the Capitol.
Sparks, a 47-year-old former factory worker from Cecilia, Kentucky, is one of more than 1,400 people who have been charged in relation to the Capitol riot. He first gained notoriety when he became the first rioter to jump through a broken window into the Capitol. His entry, just moments after the Senate recessed, was quickly followed by others, escalating the chaos that unfolded that day.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Sparks to four years and five months in prison, which is just a few months short of the recommendation federal prosecutors gave.
Despite his conviction, Sparks told the judge before learning his sentencing, that he still believes the 2020 presidential election was tainted by fraud and “completely taken from the American public.”
“I am remorseful that what transpired that day didn’t help anybody,” Sparks said. “I am remorseful that our country is in the state it’s in.”
However, during his sentencing, Kelly pointed towards the gravity of Sparks’ actions, stating that there was “nothing patriotic” about his role in what he called a “national disgrace.”
“I don’t really think you appreciate the full gravity of what happened that day and, quite frankly, the full seriousness of what you did,” the judge said.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice via online form on Tuesday for comment.
A jury previously convicted Sparks of all six charges that he faced, including a felony count of interfering with police during a civil disorder.
Sparks reportedly traveled to Washington, D.C., with colleagues from an electronics plant in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where they attended then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. Following the rally, Sparks and a friend, Joseph Howe, donned tactical vests and joined the crowd marching to the Capitol.
Prosecutors pointed towards video footage showing Howe repeatedly saying, “we’re getting in that building,” with Sparks allegedly adding, “All it’s going to take is one person to go. The rest is following.”
Sparks was the first to go, followed closely by others who stormed the Capitol. His brief but significant ten-minute stint inside the Capitol, during which he chased a Capitol Police officer up the stairs, ended when he left the building.
Capitol Police Sergeant Victor Nichols, who attempted to stop Sparks with pepper spray, later testified that Sparks’ actions acted as a “green light” for the mob, directly contributing to the building’s breach.
Sparks was arrested in Kentucky less than a month after the riot. Sparks and Howe were charged together in a November 2022 indictment. Howe pleaded guilty to assault and obstruction charges and was sentenced last year to four years and two months in prison.
Meanwhile, Sparks’ attorney, Scott Wendelsdorf, sought a lighter sentence, arguing that while Sparks may have been the first to enter, he did not lead the crowd or cause the breach.
However, Judge Kelly dismissed this argument and said that when and where Sparks entered the Capitol was an important factor in his sentencing.
“I think it’s undeniable that the first person” to enter the Capitol “would have an emboldening and encouraging effect on everyone who was at least in your vicinity,” Kelly told Sparks. “To say it wasn’t a material, key point in the mob’s taking of the Capitol, I think, is just ignoring the obvious.”
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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