A 27-year-old Florida man who pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon during the events of Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to nearly six years in prison Friday.
The Department of Justice said in a news release that Mason Joel Courson of Tamarac, Florida, was sentenced to 57 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, a Barack Obama appointee, in Washington. In addition to the prison term, Contreras gave Courson, who pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution.
The DOJ said Courson was one of nine defendants listed in the original 24-count indictment issued in November 2021. Four other defendants also pleaded guilty, the DOJ said.
According to court documents, Courson was "part of a mob" that confronted law enforcement officers at the Capitol Building on Jan. 6. At approximately 4:27 p.m., Jack Wade Whitton, 32, of Locust Grove, Georgia, climbed over a railing and began striking an officer with a crutch, also kicking him.
The documents indicate Whitton grabbed the officer and, along with co-defendant Logan James Barnhart, 41, of Holt, Michigan, and another person dragged the officer down the steps and into the crowd. Courson, who was at the bottom of the steps, beat the officer with a police baton, as other rioters struck him with other objects. The officer sustained physical injuries, including bruising and abrasions.
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