Jan 6 rioter who attacked police with pole jailed for 20 years

David Dempsey was one of the most violent rioters, prosecutors say

A California man who attacked police officers with a flag pole and other weapons during the US Capitol riot has been jailed for 20 years.

Prosecutors said David Dempsey, 37, was one of the most violent members of the crowd during the attack on 6 January, 2021.

They said he used "his hands, feet, flag poles, crutches, pepper spray, broken pieces of furniture", among other things, to injure at least two officers.

"Your conduct on 6 January was exceptionally egregious," US District Judge Royce Lamberth told Dempsey, the Associated Press reported.

"You did not get carried away in the moment."

Dempsey pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers.

More than one thousand people have been arrested for crimes related to the Capitol riot, while hundreds have been convicted.

Only Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group, has received a longer sentence than Dempsey.

Tarrio was found guilty of seditious conspiracy for orchestrating the attack, and jailed for 22 years.

Officials said Dempsey, a former fast-food and construction worker, had a history of arrests and convictions, including for burglary and and drug dealing.

The court heard that Dempsey wore a bullet-proof vest and a gaiter that covered much of his face during the riot.

He climbed over other rioters on the steps of the Capitol to repeatedly attack police, striking an officer's helmet and cracking his face shield, prosecutors said.

"David Dempsey is political violence personified," a prosecutor said before Dempsey was sentenced.

Dempsey expressed a "profound sense of regret" for his actions, according to US media.