Kentucky man convicted in violent Jan. 6 insurrection at U.S. Capitol sentenced to prison

A Kentucky man was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison Tuesday for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Clayton Ray Mullins, 54, of Benton, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

In addition to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered Mullins to pay $2,000 in restitution to the architect of the Capitol for damage; $30,165 to a Metropolitan Police Department officer for medical expenses; and $49,764 in fines, according to the release.

Mullins joined a crowd of people facing police officers who were behind a barricaded fence outside the Capitol building the afternoon of the insurrection, in which rioters tried to keep Congress from certifying the election of President Joe Biden.

Former President Donald Trump and followers have made repeated false claims that the election was stolen from Trump through fraud, and many at the riot had descended on the Capitol after a rally in support of Trump.

Mullins took part in pushing against the barricade and officers to try to get closer to the Capitol building, according to court documents.

The rioters pushed through the barricade, and as officers retreated into the building, Mullins waved other people forward and then joined others trying to get inside, according to the release.

Mullins later grabbed the leg of a police officer who had fallen in the melee and pulled on it violently. The officer ended up being dragged down some steps and attacked by others.

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra F. Foster, said in a sentencing memorandum that Mullins helped drag the police officer, who was flat on his back, “into the violent mob,” where he was assaulted and injured.

“As he was dragged into the mob, Officer A.W. was kicked, struck with poles, and stomped on by several individuals, while Mullins watched,” Foster wrote.

After that, Mullins turned his attention to another officer who had been assaulted and dragged down the steps, according to the government.

When the officer tried to climb the steps to rejoin other police, Mullins pushed the officer back down the steps and into the crowd of rioters, according to a government sentencing memorandum.

Mullins’ defense attorney, Pat Munroe Woodward Jr., said in a sentencing memorandum that Mullins’ record showed he was a law-abiding man who often helped others.

The memo included a letter from a neighbor of Mullins, retired FBI agent Robert E. Edward Dueker, Sr., who described Mullins as honest and trustworthy, a hard worker and a devoted husband.

Woodward sought a sentence of home confinement for Mullins.

The prosecutor, however, said Mullins deserved to go to prison.

“Mullins helped create the atmosphere that devolved into violence at the Archway, and then actively joined in that violence,” Foster wrote.

In the three years since the insurrection, more than 1,200 people have been charged in connection with the breach of the U.S. Capitol, according to the DOJ. Of those, more than 440 have been charged with assaulting or impeding police.