International Courant
Former Williamson County Sheriff’s Deputy Ronald McAbee has been sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in jail for his position within the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.McAbee pleaded responsible to 2 counts, considered one of which was a felony assault cost, for dragging one police officer through the riot and punching one other.”I want they had been right here so I can inform them I am sorry,” McAbee mentioned of the officers he assaulted, earlier than being sentenced.
A person who was employed as a Tennessee sheriff’s deputy when he assaulted cops defending the U.S. Capitol from a mob of Donald Trump supporters was sentenced on Thursday to just about six years in jail.
Ronald Colton McAbee wore a bulletproof vest with two patches — one which mentioned “SHERIFF” and one other bearing an insignia for the Three Percenters militia motion — when he stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. 2021.
Throughout a melee on the Capitol’s Decrease West Terrace, McAbee dragged an officer away from a police line and punched one other officer who tried to cease him.
MONTANA MAN CONVICTED OF 2 FELONIES, 4 MISDEMEANORS IN JAN. 6 CAPITOL BREACH
McAbee mentioned he by no means supposed to “strike concern or be a part of the chaos” on Jan. 6. Neither officer assaulted by McAbee attended his sentencing.
“I want they had been right here so I can inform them I am sorry,” McAbee mentioned earlier than U.S. District Decide Rudolph Contreras sentenced him to 5 years and 10 months behind bars.
“I take assaults on legislation enforcement very, very significantly, as I think you probably did earlier than that day,” the choose instructed McAbee.
McAbee will get credit score for the 2 years and 7 months that he already has served in jail since his arrest.
Prosecutors beneficial sentencing McAbee to 12 years and 7 months in jail. Solely six Jan. 6 riot defendants have acquired an extended jail sentence than that.
McAbee expressed condolences to the households of rioters and cops who died on Jan. 6 and the times that adopted. Minutes earlier than assaulting an officer, he carried out CPR on Rosanne Boyland, a Georgia girl within the mob who died through the riot.
“I am sorry for all of the households that misplaced somebody,” McAbee mentioned.
However the choose famous that McAbee gave the impression to be pleased with his violent “exploits” on Jan. 6. A day after the riot, McAbee smiled and held a newspaper with the headline “INSURRECTION” as he posed for {a photograph} with a buddy, prosecutors mentioned.
“Notably, he didn’t point out something about Ms. Boyland or making an attempt to assist her,” Contreras mentioned.
Rioters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photograph/John Minchillo, File)
McAbee pleaded responsible to 2 counts, together with a felony assault cost, earlier than a federal jury convicted him of 5 different counts after a trial final yr.
McAbee was on medical go away from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Workplace in Tennessee when he and a buddy drove to Washington, D.C., and attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Cease the Steal” rally close to the White Home on Jan. 6.
McAbee wore brass knuckle gloves and a shirt bearing a Three Percenters emblem and slogans. Three Percenters refers back to the fantasy that solely 3% of Individuals fought within the Revolutionary Conflict in opposition to the British.
After watching rioters conflict with police outdoors the Capitol, McAbee joined the fray close to a tunnel resulting in an entrance on the Decrease West Terrace. Metropolitan Police Division officer Andrew Wayte was on his again on the bottom when McAbee grabbed considered one of his legs and dragged him away from his fellow officers.
“When different officers tried to help their fallen colleagues, McAbee interfered with their efforts, cursing at them and hanging considered one of them,” prosecutors wrote in a court docket submitting.
McAbee then lifted the officer up by his torso, inflicting him to cry out in ache earlier than they slid collectively down a set of steps. He pinned the officer down for greater than 25 seconds as different rioters attacked him and fired pepper spray at his face.
Protection lawyer Benjamin Schiffelbein mentioned McAbee was making an attempt to alert police when he “briefly moved” Officer Wayte and pointed at Boyland’s physique.
“Mr. McAbee positioned himself in an unattainable state of affairs: stand and watch as a girl lay dying in entrance of officers who didn’t discover her, or to attempt to assist her,” Schiffelbein wrote in a court docket submitting.
A medical expert’s workplace later decided that Boyland died from acute amphetamine intoxication.
After his assaults on police, McAbee “sought camaraderie and favor” from different officers nonetheless combating off the mob.
“Can I get in?” he requested, tapping the “sheriff” patch on his vest. “I can’t return that manner, man.”
Two males charged with McAbee had been additionally convicted of assaulting Officer Wayte, whose accidents prevented him from returning to work for months. Justin Jersey, was sentenced to 4 years and three months in jail. The opposite, Clayton Ray Mullins, was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months of imprisonment.
McAbee beforehand served as a deputy for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Workplace in Georgia earlier than leaving in November 2020 to hitch the sheriff’s workplace in Tennessee. McAbee labored for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Workplace till March 23, 2021, based on prosecutors.
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Greater than 1,300 individuals have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 800 of them have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds receiving phrases of imprisonment starting from a couple of days to 22 years.
