Man gets prison for menacing police officer with Confederate flag

WASHINGTON — 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.

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.

Mcfadden also convicted the Seefrieds of misdemeanor charges that they engaged in disorderly conduct and illegally demonstrated inside the Capitol. The judge acquitted Hunter Seefried of other misdemeanor charges for clearing a shard of glass from a broken window.

The judge described Kevin Seefreid as the “prime mover” in his family’s decision to travel to Washington on Jan. 6. Mcfadden rejected the defense argument that the elder Seefried never intended to interfere with the congressional proceedings.

“I find that he knew what he was doing,” Mcfadden said.

The Seefrieds were the first Capitol riot defendants to get a bench trial on a felony charge. Neither testified.

Nearly 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 riot. More than 500 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. About 400 have been sentenced, with over half getting terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years.