The man who threatened a Black police officer with a pole attached to a Confederate flag as he stormed the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021 was sentenced to three years in prison.
The Delaware man carried the large Confederate flag inside the Capitol during the insurrection and was part of the mob that chased a Capitol Police officer down.
DC District Judge Trevor McFadden found Kevin Seefried guilty in June of each of the five charges he faced.
The charges include obstructing an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and entering and remaining in a restricted area.
Before handing down his sentence on Thursday, Judge McFadden said it was “outrageous” and “egregious” that Seefried brought the Confederate flag to the Capitol that day and “used it to jab at an African American officer.”
“You participated in a national embarrassment,” the judge said.
Seefried apologized tearfully before he was sentenced, saying: “I never wanted to send a message of hate.”
McFadden said it was deeply troubling that Seefried wielded the flagpole as a weapon against the officer. “Bringing a Confederate flag into one of our nation’s most sacred halls was outrageous,” the judge said.
During the bench trial before McFadden, USCP Officer Eugene Goodman testified that Seefried had jabbed the base of the flag pole toward him multiple times to try to push him away. Seefried, Goodman said, eventually moved back to rejoin the mob after the officer didn’t move.
According to Goodman, Seefried “was saying things like F**k you, I’m not leaving, where are the members at, where are they counting the votes.”
Seefried recalled in an interview with that FBI that he told Goodman, “You can shoot me, man, but we’re coming in.”
Nearly 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the January 6 riot. More than 500 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. Approximately 400 have been sentenced, with over half getting terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years.
Seefrieds son was also sentenced to prison for two years.
Seefried and his adult son, Hunter, stormed the Capitol together after attending the “Stop the Steal” rally, where then President Donald Trump addressed thousands of supporters in Washington. Kevin Seefried was the 12th rioter to set foot inside the building that day, according to prosecutors.
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