Jan. 6 Rioter Who Grabbed Officer’s Gas Mask Sentenced to Over 7 Years
A Jan. 6 Capitol rioter who grabbed at an officer’s gas mask was sentenced to 85 months in federal prison on Friday. According to CBS News, prosecutors were looking for more than a 10-year sentence, citing the “sadistic cruelty” of Steven Cappuccio’s attack on Officer Daniel Hodges. Cappuccio recorded the event on his phone, holding the device in his mouth so that he could use both his hands in the attack. “How do you like me now, motherf—er?” he shouted during the assault. Hodges had to get medical treatment after the incident and went through an MRI scan. Cappuccio, who is a veteran, defended his actions by saying his PTSD was partly to blame, but Hodges, also a veteran, countered, writing, “I'm curious at what point did his mental health condition allegedly take all agency away from his rational mind: Did it seize him before he drove 1,600 miles from his home in Texas to the Capitol?” He later questioned, “When did he regain his senses? Was it before or after he tried to kill me?” Earlier on Friday, Cappuccio’s co-defendant Federico Klein, a Trump-appointee at the State Department, was sentenced to almost six years in prison.
Steven Cappuccio "put his phone – while still recording – in his mouth and, with both hands free, forcefully yanked the gas mask away from Officer Hodges’ face in vigorous, quick movements." He'll be sentenced his afternoon.
VIDEO: pic.twitter.com/JECQWulua0— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 3, 2023