Florida Man Who ‘Attacked Officers With Flagpole’ on Jan. 6 Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

People wave flags on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

A Florida man who allegedly attacked three law enforcement officers with a flagpole during the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Aug. 17 to four years in prison.

Michael Steven Perkins, 40, of Plant City, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Mr. Perkins was found guilty in March this year of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and civil disorder, both of which are felony offenses.

He was also found guilty of offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and acts of physical violence while on the restricted Capitol grounds.

According to prosecutors, Mr. Perkins traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, after which he “marched toward the Capitol with a group of co-defendants, trespassing over the restricted perimeter that had been established.”

Mr. Perkins and the co-defendants then made their way to the West Plaza of the Capitol building, according to the DOJ.

According to a July press release from the DOJ, Mr. Perkins’s co-defendants—Olivia Michele Pollock, 30; Joshua Christopher Doolin, 22; and Joseph Daniel Hutchinson III, 25, all of Lakeland, Florida—were charged in relation to the Capitol breach.

Another co-defendant, Jonathan Pollock, has not yet been arrested and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $30,000 in exchange for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

“Shortly after 2:00 p.m., Perkins helped a co-defendant in an attempt to charge and break through a police line by pushing him from behind into the line,” prosecutors said. “As police descended into the crowd to assist another officer, Perkins picked up a flagpole and thrust it into the chest of an approaching officer. Perkins then raised the flagpole over his head and swung it down, striking two officers in the back of their heads.”

Co-defendant Charged

According to prosecutors, after the police line broke, Mr. Perkins “moved closer to the Capitol building and climbed up the inaugural stage, then ascended to the building’s Upper West Terrace.”

Overall, Mr. Perkins spent around three hours in the restricted Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, according to the DOJ.

He was subsequently arrested by agents with the FBI in Plant City on June 30, 2021, after he was captured on surveillance footage from the day of the Capitol breach.

The Justice Department declined to comment when The Epoch Times asked if Mr. Perkins had legal representation.

One of Mr. Perkins’s co-defendants, Mr. Doolin, was also sentenced this week by Judge Nichols to 18 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release for his actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Prosecutors handed down charges of civil disorder, which is a felony, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and theft of government property.

According to the DOJ, Mr. Doolin charged at police lines, stole a riot shield, and kept it as a souvenir during the breach of the Capitol building.

He was arrested by FBI agents in June 2021.

His attorney said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that Mr. Doolin plans to appeal his convictions.

More than 1,106 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 U.S. states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol in the 31 months since Jan. 6, 2021, including more than 350 individuals who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

The investigation remains ongoing.