A man who marched around the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and waved a Confederate battle flag he used to intimidate black police officers was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison.
Kevin Thiefried, 53, broke down in tears before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden in a Washington, DC courtroom. A judge told him it was “outrageous” to bring the flag into “his one of the most sacred halls in our country.”
“I didn’t want to send a message of hate,” Seefried told the judge. According to Associated Press.
A Delaware man broke into the Capitol with his son Hunter Siefried, who was sentenced to two years in prison in October. The two were found guilty of obstruction of justice in June last year.
In the aftermath of the attack on Congress, a photo of Elder Seefried with his flag shocked many Americans – that the pro-slavery symbol was openly hoisted at the Capitol was a symbol of the nation’s Never in history.
Kevin Seafried of Delaware holds the Confederate flag at the Capitol Rotunda on January 6, 2021. He is sentenced to his three years in prison.
At one point, Siefried used the flag as a weapon against Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who went one-on-one with a mob of Donald Trump supporters and successfully diverted them from areas where lawmakers were evacuating. was using
Goodman testified in court that Seefried tried to push him away by sticking a flagpole at him.
He said, “‘Fuck, I’m not leaving,’ ‘Where are the members?’ ‘Where are they counting the votes?’ According to CNNSupporters of then-President Trump had been incited to storm the Capitol to disrupt the official tally of the 2020 Electoral College votes by both houses of Congress before Joe Biden’s inauguration. .
Seefried’s attorney said: in court documents As a high school dropout who grew up in an abusive household, Seefried was unaware of the hateful message Banner sent him.
Kevin Siefried (left) and his son Hunter Siefried confront police officers at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“He was taught that the flag was a symbol of an idealized view of Southern life and Southern heritage,” the lawyer wrote. Lacking even the most intellectual faculties, Mr. Seefried did not understand the complex and to many painful history behind the Confederate battle flag.”
According to the Associated Press, the FBI found no evidence that Seefried or his son belonged to a far-right extremist group.
Seefried’s attorney said his wife left him in the aftermath of his participation in the attack on the Capitol.