Associated Press
A man’s 63-month sentence matches the longest in a parliamentary riot
A man who attacked a police officer with a pole during a riot in the US Capitol was sentenced to more than five years in prison on Tuesday. This is the longest imprisonment ever in prosecution of hundreds of Capitol riots. Mark Ponder, 56, who lives in Washington, DC, said he was “engaged” in the turmoil that broke out on January 6, 2021 and “did not mean that this would happen.” “I wasn’t thinking about that day,” Ponder told US District Judge Tanya Chutkan for mercy before he was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.