A Florida male explained by prosecutors as a person of the most violent rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Wednesday to five decades in jail, court documents present.
Kenneth Bonawitz, a member of the considerably-right Happy Boys extremist group’s Miami chapter, assaulted at least six law enforcement officers as he stormed the Capitol with a mob of Donald Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. He grabbed one of the officers in a chokehold and injured yet another so seriously that the officer experienced to retire, in accordance to federal prosecutors.
Bonawitz, 58, of Pompano Seaside carried an eight-inch knife in a sheath on his hip. Law enforcement seized the knife from him in involving his barrage of assaults on officers.
“His violent, and recurring, assaults on several officers are amongst the worst assaults that occurred that day,” Assistant U.S. Lawyer Sean McCauley wrote in a courtroom filing.
U.S. District Choose Jia Cobb sentenced Bonawitz to a 5-calendar year term of imprisonment followed by a few many years of supervised release, in accordance to court docket data.
The Justice Office recommended a prison sentence of five a long time and 11 months for Bonawitz, who was arrested very last January. He pleaded guilty in August to a few felonies — 1 depend of civil disorder and two counts of assaulting police.
Bonawitz took an overnight bus to Washington, D.C., chartered for Trump supporters to show up at his “Prevent the Steal” rally close to the White Dwelling on Jan. 6.
Bonawitz was a single of the initially rioters to enter the Higher West Plaza once the crowd overran a police line on the north facet. He jumped off a stage designed for President Joe Biden’s inauguration and tackled two Capitol law enforcement officers. One of them, Sgt. Federico Ruiz, endured severe injuries to his neck, shoulder, knees and again.
“I believed there was a solid probability I could die proper there,” Ruiz wrote in a letter tackled to the choose.
Ruiz, who retired past month, explained the accidents inflicted by Bonawitz prematurely finished his legislation-enforcement occupation.
“Bonawitz has offered me a lifetime sentence of bodily pain and soreness, bodily personal injury and psychological insecurity as a direct end result of his assault on me,” he wrote.
Right after law enforcement confiscated his knife and introduced him, Bonawitz assaulted 4 much more officers in the span of 7 seconds. He positioned a single of the officers in a headlock and lifted her off the floor, choking her.
“Bonawitz’s attacks did not halt right up until (police) officers pushed him back into the crowd for a second time and deployed chemical agent to his confront,” the prosecutor wrote.
More than 100 police officers ended up wounded throughout the siege. More than 1,200 defendants have been billed with Capitol riot-similar federal crimes. About 900 have pleaded guilty or been convicted following trials. More than 750 have been sentenced, with virtually 500 receiving a term of imprisonment, according to data compiled by The Linked Push.
Dozens of Proud Boys leaders, associates and associates have been arrested on Jan. 6 charges. A jury convicted previous Very pleased Boys nationwide chairman Enrique Tarrio and three lieutenants of seditious conspiracy rates for a failed plot to forcibly stop the peaceful transfer of presidential electrical power from Trump to Biden just after the 2020 election.
Bonawitz is just not accused of coordinating his steps on Jan. 6 with other Happy Boys. But he “fully embraced and embodied their anti-authorities, extremist ideology when he assaulted 6 legislation enforcement officers who stood concerning a mob and the democratic course of action,” the prosecutor wrote.
Bonawitz’s attorneys failed to publicly file a sentencing memo in advance of Wednesday’s listening to. One particular of his lawyers failed to promptly reply to e-mails and a mobile phone connect with looking for comment.
