A Tennessee man who dragged former D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone into the crowd during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Albuquerque Head,43, to 90 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 96 months.
Head grabbed Fanone from the line of police officers guarding the tunnel entrance at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and yelled “I’ve got one”.
“He was your prey. He was your trophy,” Jackson told Head on Thursday.
Fanone was beaten and tased. He suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury. Fanone later resigned from the force.
In court on Thursday Fanone asked Jackson to impose the maximum sentence. “I would ask you to show Mr. Head the same mercy that he showed me on January 6th, which, in case there’s any question in this courtroom, is none.”
Judge Jackson said it is important to send a message to those who plan to do a repeat of Jan. 6.
“People need to understand that they can’t do this, or anything like this, again. They can’t try to force their will on the American people once the American people have already spoken at the ballot box. That’s the opposite of democracy, it’s tyranny. And the threat to democracy, the dark shadow of tyranny, unfortunately, has not gone away,” Jackson said.
“The dark shadow of tyranny unfortunately has not gone away,” she continued. “There are people who are still disseminating the lie that the election was stolen. They’re doing it today. And the people who are stoking that anger for their own selfish purposes, they need to think about the havoc they’ve wreaked, the lives they’ve ruined.”
According to the Associated Press, about 900 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 430 of them have pleaded guilty.
