Confederate flag rioter gets prison

Man threatened Black police officer with pole

A Delaware man who threatened a Black police officer with a pole attached to a Confederate battle flag as he stormed the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison.

Kevin Seefried, 53, tearfully apologized for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot before U.S. District Judge Trevor Mcfadden sentenced him.

“I never wanted to send a message of hate,” Seefried said.

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.

Mcfadden allowed Seefried to remain free until he must report to prison at a date to be determined.

Justice Department prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of five years and 10 months for Seefried, a drywall mechanic from Laurel, Delaware.

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.

In October, Mcfadden sentenced Hunter Seefried to two years of imprisonment.

Widely published photographs showed Kevin Seefried carrying his Confederate flag inside the Capitol after he and his son, then 22, entered the building through a broken window.

Kevin Seefried told an FBI agent that he did not view the Confederate flag as a symbol of racist hate. FBI agents said they did not find any evidence linking him or his son to any far-right extremist groups.

“He had brought the flag as a symbol of protest, but had not considered the logic of those who see the flag as a symbol of American racism,” they wrote.

Within a minute of entering the building, Kevin Seefried jabbed his flagpole at Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman and joined other rioters in chasing the officer up a flight of stairs, a harrowing scene captured on video. Seefried was the first rioter to encounter Goodman near the base of the staircase, prosecutors said.

Manuel Balce Ceneta The Associated Press Protesters loyal to then-president Donald Trump, including Kevin Seefried, center, are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police inside the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.