Michael Sparks was the first to break into the US Capitol in January 2021. Now the man from Kentucky has been sentenced to almost four and a half years in prison and a fine. Sparks “acted like a green light signal”.
A 46-year-old man has been sentenced to nearly four and a half years in prison and a fine in connection with the storming of the Capitol. According to investigators, he was the first to enter the congressional building in January 2021.
A judge in Washington sentenced the defendant, Michael Sparks from the state of Kentucky, to 53 months in prison and a fine of $2,000 (around 1,800 euros). Sparks was found guilty of resisting arrest and breach of the peace in March.
Sparks had already been convicted in March of resisting state authority and breach of the peace.
Sparks acted “like a green light” to the demonstrators who followed him, said a police officer at the trial in Washington. A total of almost 1,500 people were charged for their involvement in the storming of the Capitol.
Five dead in Capitol storming
On January 6, 2021, fanatical supporters of the ousted US President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington after an inflammatory speech by Trump while Congress was in session in the building. Five people were killed in the storming of the Capitol and 140 police officers were injured.
The attackers wanted to prevent Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election from being formally certified there. Trump had previously spread the false claim for weeks that he had been deprived of a second term in office by massive electoral fraud. Trump himself has been charged with four counts for his role in the events of January 6, 2021.
