Jan. 6 rioter seeks leniency for hitting cop
A San Antonio-area man convicted of assaulting a Washington, D.C., police officer as others crushed him in a doorway during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is asking a judge for a light sentence.
Public defenders for Steven P. Cappuccio of Universal City say his violent conduct was aberrant, perhaps exacerbated by more than 20 years of military service that left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. They’re asking that he be allowed to serve his sentence in a halfway house for veterans.
Assistant public defender Marina Thais Douenat wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Cappuccio was unaffiliated with any radical group, unarmed and not dressed for combat on the day rioters attempted to stop the certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden to become president.
“There is absolutely no evidence that Mr. Cappuccio went to Washington, D.C., with any intent except to attend Former President (Donald) Trump’s rally,” Douenat wrote. “He did not plan to hurt anyone or break the law. … Unlike many defendants involved in the events of that day, Mr. Cappuccio is not a member of any extremist group. He did not take any police gear as a ‘souvenir,’ and he never boasted or bragged about his conduct on January 6.”
But prosecutors say the assault on officer Steven Hodges of Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department merits a prison term of 121 months in prison for Cappuccio, 54.
He knew what he was doing when he joined other Trump supporters in the attack, having stopped to buy goggles as he drove to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally for Trump, the feds wrote in a sentencing memo.
Cappuccio is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, along with at least one other defendant, Federico Guillermo Klein, a former appointee of Trump. Both were convicted in a trial in July of participating in the assault on Hodges.
Rioters, fired up by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen and his urging that they “fight like hell,” marched to the Capitol, broke through police lines and occupied the building for several hours, trashing offices and sending lawmakers into hiding.
Despite noticing that the crowd “got angry,” Cappuccio remained at the Capitol grounds and moved toward the building, climbing onto a railing of the lower west terrace and shouting, “Storming the Castle, boys!” and “Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!” the prosecution memorandum said.
After progressing into a tunnel, Klein, Cappuccio and others trapped Hodges between a tunnel doorway and a body shield. Hodges was left with a head injury and yelling for help, as seen in a social media video that went viral. He was one of several officers injured in the riot.
“Taking advantage of Hodges’ vulnerable position, Cappuccio forcefully yanked Officer Hodges’ gas mask away from his face in vigorous, quick movements, causing Officer Hodges’ head and neck to be jerked in various directions,” prosecutors wrote. “During this attack, Cappuccio jeered, ‘How do you like me now, (expletive)?’”
Cappuccio then grabbed Hodges’ baton out of his hands and struck the officer in the head with it. Throughout the assault, Hodges screamed and pleaded for help.
Rather than leave, Cappuccio reveled in the violent clash, the memo stated.
“During this push, Cappuccio held his phone in the air, recording the violence between the rioters and the police line,” prosecutors wrote.
Douenat, the assistant public defender, barely mentions details of her client’s conduct in her filings. She has asked the court to take into account Cappuccio’s entire background and to give him a sentence similar to other rioters who have received sentences far below what prosecutors have asked for, or what federal sentencing guidelines recommend.
In one sentencing memorandum, Douenat focused on how his life shaped him. She wrote that Cappuccio’s mother was in the Marines and later went to work in for the Defense Department in the U.S. Civil Service. His father was a military police officer in the Marines and the Army. Their marriage ended when he was a toddler.
“Growing up, Mr. Cappuccio witnessed his parents struggling with alcohol problems, which influenced his perspective on life,” Douenat wrote.
As a teen, Cappuccio found solace in the Mormon faith and embarked on missionary work after high school. In his 20s, he worked in the restaurant industry and met his wife in the late 1990s at one such job.
The couple tried to give their first two children a life different from the one he had faced, his lawyer stated. He worked at an HE-B warehouse, while his wife took college courses. They now have five children.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Cappuccio was called by a sense of patriotism and enlisted in the Army in September 2002. Serving as an infantryman, he was older than most of his fellow service members but was a good soldier and leader, earning the Army Commendation Medal for three deployments to war zones in the Middle East.
Seeing soldiers die and other tragedies of war left him with PTSD, nightmares and insomnia, Douenat wrote. A rigorous Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training made the PTSD worse, leading his wife to observe that Cappuccio was “different than the man I married.”
Once stoic, Cappuccio was plagued by anxiety, hypervigilance and emotional numbness, Douenat wrote. He was still struggling with the conditions when he was honorably discharged in 2014.
His PTSD affected his ability to secure a steady job, and he found himself as a stay-at-home father to his five children while his wife worked at an H-E-B grocery store. Still, he sought treatment and attended periodic therapy sessions and support groups, according to the memo.
“The events of January 6 were highly unusual and not representative of Steven’s overall character or behavior,” Douenat wrote. “Normally, he actively seeks treatment for his PTSD and avoids situations that could trigger his symptoms, such as crowds and loud noises. This demonstrates his commitment to managing his condition and maintaining a peaceful and non-confrontational approach to life.”
Douenat argues that imprisoning Cappuccio would worsen his PTSD because he would not have appropriate access to mental health care. He has been on pretrial supervision since his arrest Aug. 10, 2021, without any violations, she wrote.
Her memorandums seek a sentence that would include a 24month commitment to Camp Hope, a treatment center in Houston for veterans suffering with PTSD and other mental issues.
“Losing his cool and engaging in actions that are contrary to the ideals he fought for are a source of deep remorse for Mr. Cappuccio,” Douenat wrote. “Furthermore, being labeled as an insurrectionist and domestic terrorist, as it goes against the very essence of his identity and the values he fought to protect, have affected him deeply.”