North Texas man sentenced to prison for assaulting officers at Jan. 6 Capitol riot
A North Texas man has been sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting two officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, announced the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Robert Wayne Dennis, 63, of Garland, was sentenced Thursday in Washington, D.C., on felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the Capitol breach.
“His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Dennis was sentenced to prison for civil disorder; two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; and the misdemeanor charges of engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.
Dennis was found guilty on Jan. 13 following a bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg. In addition to the prison term, Dennis is ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and serve two years of supervised release.
According to evidence presented at trial, Dennis was captured on video on Jan. 6, 2021, on the upper west terrace of the Capitol during the ongoing riot.
Metropolitan Police Department officers had formed a police line on top of a set of stairs to act as a barrier against the crowd and prevent further breaches at the Capitol building.
At about 2:50 p.m., Dennis went up the stairs and assaulted the line of officers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. One officer, identified in court documents as “Officer C.W.,” attempted to use a baton to push him away. Dennis then attacked the officers again, engaging in a violent struggle with “Officer J.S.” in which Dennis threw punches at him while he was on the ground.
Dennis was convicted of assaulting both Officer C.W. and Officer J.S and was arrested on Oct. 20, 2021, in Texas.
This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office and the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol police.
In the 27 months since Jan. 6 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The investigation is ongoing.
