Capitol rioter gets 5 years for assaulting officers
A Florida member of the Proud Boys was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for assaulting at least six officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, including one U.S. Capitol Police officer who was so severely injured that he was forced to retire, the Justice Department said.
Described as “one of the more violent” rioters, Kenneth Bonawitz, 58, pleaded guilty in August to three felony charges: civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder.
He threw himself at officers and tackled them to the ground in addition to placing one officer in a chokehold and lifting the officer up by the neck, according to court documents.
Bonawitz was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and fines.
A life sentence of pain
Bonawitz, a member of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group’s Miami chapter, took an overnight bus from Florida to Washington that was chartered for Donald Trump supporters to attend his “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House, according to court documents.
He came “prepared for violence,” armed with an 8-inch hunting knife in a sheath attached to his belt, prosecutors said.
After the rally, Bonawitz was among the first of the rioters to enter the Upper West Plaza by pushing through a police defensive line. He mounted a stage built for President Joe Biden’s inauguration and jumped off, tackling two Capitol police officers.
One of the officers was Sgt. Federico Ruiz, who suffered serious injuries to his neck, shoulder, knees and back.
“I thought there was a strong chance I could die right there,” Ruiz wrote in a November letter to U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb. “Bonawitz has given me a life sentence of physical pain and discomfort, bodily injury and emotional insecurity as a direct result of his assault on me.”
Following these assaults, officers confiscated Bonawitz’s knife and released him back into the crowd. But within about seven seconds, Bonawitz assaulted four more officers, prosecutors said.
Bonawitz exited the Capitol grounds after being sprayed with a chemical agent and gave two brief interviews to media outlets, including one where he stated, “I was up on the stage breaking through the lines. D.C. police maced me, hit me over the head with batons, and was kicking me in the side of the face,” prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,265 individuals in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the 2021 Capitol attack, according to the Justice Department. That includes over 440 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. More than 100 police officers were injured during the siege and five people were killed.
About 900 of those charged have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials, and more than 750 have been sentenced – with nearly 500 receiving a term of imprisonment, according to data compiled by The Associated Press.