A member of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory now says she regrets it.
An attorney for Dana Jean Bell, 62, who pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting officers, told U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly at a sentencing hearing on Thursday that she believed it was “her civil and patriotic duty to answer Trump’s call” on Jan. 6, according to NBC News.
Prosecutors say Bell “belligerently pushed, grabbed, and verbally attacked countless U.S. Capitol Police (‘USCP’) and Metropolitan Police Department (‘MPD’) officers who were attempting to clear rioters from inside the United States Capitol Building.”
One of the officers Bell assaulted was Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffrey Smith who died by suicide days later after suffering brain trauma and concussions during the attack.
Smith’s widow, Erin Smith, gave an emotional victim impact statement blaming Bell for her husband’s death and requested that she received the the maximum prison sentence.
Video captured by Smith’s bodycam showed Bell yelling at him to “Get a real job, get a real job!”
“We don’t support y’all anymore,” she continued. “Now NO ONE supports you! Nobody!”
Bell’s attorney says she now realizes that she was “duped” by “President Donald Trump’s lies and manipulation” and “has also come to realize former President Trump did lose the 2020 election and he has used all of his followers including herself for his own gain,” NBC reports.
Judge Kelly sentenced Bell to 17 months in federal prison and 3 years under supervised release. She was also ordered to pay, $2000 in restitution and the mandatory $100 special assessment.
More than 1,500 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the attack of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 500 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the Justice Department.
