Jan. 6 rioter who stole former DC officer’s badge, radio sentenced to 4 years in prison

A New York man was sentenced to just over four years in prison on Friday for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot on the Capitol.

U.S. District Court judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Buffalo resident Thomas Sibick, 37, to 50 months in prison for allegedly assaulting former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone and stealing his badge and radio. He later returned the badge to the FBI, but the radio still has not been found.

Sibick also received 36 months of supervised release and a fine of over $7,500 for “one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and one misdemeanor count of theft,” according to officials. He pleaded guilty to the charges back in March.

“According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Sibick made his way illegally onto the ground of the U.S. Capitol and into the mob gathered on the West Plaza,” the Department of Justice said in a statement. “Here, Sibick posted a ‘selfie’ video on Instagram depicting himself in the mob.”

“The video pans the crowd with the caption, ‘Wildest experience of my life!!’ Sibick then filmed himself screaming, ‘Just got tear-gassed, but we’re going, baby, we’re going! We’re pushing forward now!’” DOJ added.

Another man, Daniel Rodriguez, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in June for assaulting Fanone with a taser. Fanone experienced a minor heart attack and a traumatic brain injury in the midst of the riot.

He also claims he has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and “emotional trauma” from the events of the day.

“Any compassion or empathy I felt toward those who laid siege to our Capitol, whose actions I felt were at least in part influenced by their leader Donald Trump and his lies, has been eroded — eroded by the attacks directed at me and my family by supporters of Donald Trump and the right-wing media,” Fanone said.

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