Donald Trump supporter Mark Ponder has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for assaulting police at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack.
As NBC News reports, Ponder was given a 63 month sentence in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday, tying him for the longest sentencing connected to the Capitol attack to date. 54-year-old Robert Palmer of Tampa was also handed down a 63 month sentence.
The 56-year-old Washington man was initially arrested in March 2021, and later pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon.
Video footage of the violent crowd on Jan. 6 shows pro-Trump supporters, who stormed the Capitol because they falsely believed the 2020 election was fraudulent, put pressure on Capitol police. Ponder can be seen in clips, of which screenshots were presented during the sentencing, swinging a pole at officers responding to the rioters.
Capitol police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell provided testimony during Ponder’s sentencing, as the man was shown attempting to attack Gonell with the pole. “Ponder struck the riot shield with such force that the pole snapped and broke apart as it made contact with the shield, and the top portion of the pole flew off to the side,” reads the sentencing memo. “Ponder then retreated back into the crowd.” Gonell sustained more serious injuries later during the Capitol attack, and said he will “never be back in uniform” on account of said injuries. Ponder also assaulted a Washington police officer on Jan. 6.
After his arrest last year, Ponder told FBI agents that the assaults against officers were not “personal.” He admitted that he believed the conspiracy theories regarding the election, which were also echoed by Trump himself despite no credible evidence indicating the election was fraudulent or stolen.
