"Five years in prison for tripping and falling against officers?" questioned Proud Boy Piglet? "He did fall multiple times." said Proud Boy Pooh. "How many years per fall?" questioned Eeyore. "Some picnic," they all thought. "Did he come in over the southern border?" asked Roo.

<snip> At 6 feet 6 inches and nearly 300 pounds, the force of Kenneth J. Bonawitz launching himself through the air and slamming his forearms into the throats of two police officers standing below him during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot must have been enormous. One officer suffered back injuries such that he was forced to retire in permanent pain.

Bonawitz, 58, wasn’t done. As other officers rushed in, they spotted an eight-inch hunting knife on Bonawitz’s hip and seized it from him. But the police were too overwhelmed to arrest Bonawitz and returned him to the crowd on the Capitol’s West Terrace, where he proceeded to fight with more officers, including putting one officer in a chokehold and lifting her off the ground. He ultimately assaulted six officers before retreating after being hit with chemical spray. Prosecutors called him “one of the most violent Jan. 6 rioters” and said his attacks “were barbaric and left his victims with lasting physical, emotional and psychological injuries.”

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb to sentence Bonawitz, a member of the Proud Boys, a far-right group with a history of violence, to nearly six years in prison, above the average sentence of slightly less than four years for assaulting police on Jan. 6.

Cobb imposed a sentence of five years, calling Bonawitz’s actions “really inexplicable to me.” She addressed the view held by some that defendants such as Bonawitz are political prisoners. “I don’t care about your political beliefs,” the judge said. “It’s your actions that you’re facing sentencing for.” <snip>

washingtonpost.com - Bonawitz sentenced