Man who participated in Jan. 6 insurrection and assaulted multiple officers handed 20-year prison sentence
A man from California who was found guilty of perpetrating some of the lengthiest and most savage assaults against law enforcement officers during the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was given a 20-year prison sentence on Friday.
David Dempsey received a 20-year prison term from senior D.C. District Judge Royce Lamberth, making it the second lengthiest sentence handed down to a defendant connected to the Capitol riot.
During the trial, with several of Dempsey’s targets from the Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police present in the courtroom, prosecutors exhibited multiple videos depicting Dempsey engaged in one of the most violent altercations of the riot near the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol — continuously hitting, kicking, and hurling various objects at the police line trying to obstruct the pro-Trump crowd from entering the building.
MORE: 3 years later, Jan. 6 by the numbers: More than 1,200 charged, more than 460 imprisoned for role in Capitol attack
In a video clip, Dempsey repeatedly swung a pilfered metal crutch down onto an officer’s helmet, shattering the face shield.
One officer who Dempsey attacked testified that he thought he was going to perish and started thinking about his family.
Judge Lamberth described Dempsey’s actions as “exceptionally heinous” before announcing the sentence, which he justified by highlighting Dempsey’s extensive criminal past and previous instances where he had assaulted political adversaries during protests in 2019 and 2020.
The judge, appointed by Reagan, mentioned that fortunately, Dempsey’s attempts to breach the police line were unsuccessful, as it could have led to a “massacre” for lawmakers seeking refuge inside the building.
“David Dempsey epitomizes political violence,” a prosecutor stated while arguing for a severe sentence for Dempsey.
Before his sentencing, Dempsey spoke to the court and expressed his “deep sense of remorse” for his actions, offering a personal apology to the officers present in the room.
However, upon receiving the sentence, Dempsey — as he was being escorted out by the bailiff — made a hand gesture in the air commonly associated with “white power” or the white supremacist Groyper movement.
According to data released earlier this year by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., federal prosecutors have filed charges against over 1,265 defendants and obtained prison terms for more than 460 individuals involved in the Capitol attack.