Capitol rioters plead guilty to assaulting police officer who suffered heart attack and traumatic brain injury
Leonard T. Koonce
2 min read
A group of accused Capitol rioters partially admitted to attacking police officer Michael Fanone on Jan. 6 and will now likely have to spend time behind bars.
Two members of the group, from different US states, appeared in court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to the assault allegations against Mr. Fanone, a former officer, The Washington Post reported.
Kyle Young, 38, told the court how he bought his teenage son to Washington DC from Redfield, Iowa for the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally and then drove to the US Capitol.
It was then that Mr Young and hundreds of rioters were confronted by a line of police trying to stop supporters of former US President Donald Trump from storming Congress. Michael Fanone, the officer, was among them.
Mr Fanone, speaking in testimony after the attack, said he was dragged into the crowd of rioters and assaulted. Mr Young told the court as part of his plea deal that he followed the police officer who was shot, beaten and tazed.
The 42-year-old suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury on January 6 and retired from the Capitol Police last year. Mr Fanone previously recounted how he shouted “I have children!” to his attackers, who brought him back to the police cordon.
The former officer told the court he believed Mr Young was the rioter who tried to grab his police-issued gun and threatened to kill him, although video evidence did not show that the man from Iowa was doing it.
As part of the plea deal, the charge of attempted theft of Mr. Fanone’s gun was dropped by prosecutors and will not be discussed at sentencing, according to The post office.
While Mr. Young also admitted to attacking another Capitol police officer on January 6, according to the report, another accused rioter – Albuquerque Head, of Tennessee – was due to plead guilty on Friday to attacking Mr. Fanone.
Two other people have pleaded not guilty in connection with the attack on Mr. Fanone, and they are Daniel Rodriguez, of Southern California, and Thomas Sibick, of Buffalo.
A lawyer for Mr. Young said he knew of the activities of the others, according to the report.
The group is among 800 suspected rioters arrested following the Capitol Riot.
