A Donald Trump supporter who "blind-side tackled" a U.S. Capitol Police officer from behind on Jan. 6 and flipped him over a ledge was sentenced to more than six years in prison Tuesday.
Ralph Celentano, a New York man who thought Trump was the greatest president in American history, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly called Celentano's conduct "disgraceful" and that there was no excuse for it, calling the attack on the officer "a truly cowardly and despicable thing to do."
Celentano was arrested in 2022 and convicted at trial last year. Court evidence shows that he believed Trump's lies about the 2020 election, writing on social media that "crooked poll workers need to be hauled before judges" before heading to the "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington on Jan. 6, and then heading to the Capitol.
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“While admittedly ‘amped up’ from the rally, Celentano marched over a mile to the Capitol Building gripping his Trump flag, folding chairs strapped to his backpack, which bore a patch that read, ‘Kill Them All and Let God Sort it Out,’” prosecutors wrote.
While at Peace Circle, Celentano said in a video that rioters should "occupy the Capitol, it's our building," and then joined the mob confronting officers, calling them "pathetic pieces of s---," prosecutors said. Celentano then pushed officers and used their riot shields against them.
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