Man gets 7½ years for Jan. 6 role

Capitol rioter used stolen shield to pin officer to doorframe

Patrick McCaughey III appears on police body-worn camera footage at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
(AP/Justice Department)
Patrick McCaughey III appears on police body-worn camera footage at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP/Justice Department)

WASHINGTON -- A man who used a stolen riot shield to crush a police officer in a doorframe during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in prison for his role in one of the most violent episodes of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 15 years and eight months for Patrick McCaughey III, which would have been the longest sentence for a Capitol riot case by more than five years.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced McCaughey to seven years and six months in prison followed by two years of supervised release.

"Your actions are some of the most egregious crimes that were committed on that dark day," the judge told McCaughey.

McCaughey, 25, of Ridgefield, Conn., expressed shame for joining the mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters who "violated" the Capitol.

"I'm sorry that I conducted myself less like a citizen and more like an animal that day," he said.

Also Friday, a Finksburg, Md., man pleaded guilty to assaulting an Associated Press photographer and police officers in separate attacks outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. Rodney Milstreed is scheduled to be sentenced on July 20.

Chief Judge James Boasberg told Milstreed, 56, that the estimated sentencing guidelines for his case recommend a term of imprisonment ranging from five years and three months to six years and six months.

The judge in McCaughey's case convicted him of nine counts, including felony assault charges, after hearing trial testimony without a jury in September.

Nine people, including McCaughey, were charged together with joining one of the most brutal clashes at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Police and rioters were fighting for control of a tunnel entrance on the Lower West Terrace when D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges came face to face with McCaughey, who used a stolen riot shield to pin Hodges to a metal doorframe.

"Go home!" McCaughey shouted at the officer.

Hodges, who testified at McCaughey's trial and spoke at his sentencing hearing, said he thinks about the horrors of Jan. 6 every day.

"I do not foresee that changing anytime soon," he told the judge, describing McCaughey as a "foot soldier" who was at "the vanguard of the assault."

Hodges screamed out for help when another rioter grabbed the officer's baton and struck him in the face with it.

"It was only then, over two minutes after the assault began, that McCaughey relented and pulled Officer Hodges's face shield down over his eyes," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall wrote in a court filing.

Hodges managed to retreat inside the Capitol building and was taken to a hospital. McCaughey struck a second officer with the shield before another officer sprayed him with a chemical irritant, backing him away.

"It is not an exaggeration to state the actions of these officers in thwarting the mob at the Lower West Terrace entrance potentially saved the lives of others, including members of Congress," Paschall wrote.

The judge convicted McCaughey of obstructing an official proceeding, the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying Joe Biden's presidential election victory over Trump.

McCaughey's attorneys requested a one-year prison sentence. They said McCaughey's "reprehensible" actions were motivated by his "misunderstanding" about the 2020 presidential election. Trump, the Republican incumbent, claimed that Democrats stole the election from him.

"There remain many grifters out there who remain free to continue propagating the 'great lie' that Trump won the election, Donald Trump being among the most prominent. Mr. McCaughey is not one of these individuals; he knows he was wrong," his lawyers wrote.

McCaughey, a carpenter employed by his father's construction company, drove about 300 miles from his Connecticut home to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6. After listening to speeches, McCaughey went to the Capitol and joined other rioters in confronting police officers guarding the West Plaza.

When the rioters broke through the police line, McCaughey climbed up the steps inside construction scaffolding and took a selfie atop the structure. Minutes later, he joined the mob in a coordinated "heave-ho" push against officers guarding the Lower West Terrace tunnel entrance.

More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the deadly Jan. 6 riot. Over 600 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials decided by a jury or a judge. Over 450 of them have been sentenced, with more than half getting terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years.

Asked for his reaction to McCaughey's sentence, Hodges said it depends on what happens when his assailant is released from prison.

"We'll see if he's a changed man," Hodges said outside the courtroom.

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