First rioter to breach US Capitol on January 6 sentenced

The first rioter to breach the US Capitol in January 2021 has been sentenced to 53 months in prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Michael Sparks, 47, was "the very first rioter to enter the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021," according to evidence presented during the trial, prosecutors said in a press release.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Sparks to 53 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release and ordered him to pay $2,000 (€1,789) on a felony offense of civil disorder and misdemeanor offenses, including entering a restricted building and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, the press release continued.

Video surveillance from inside the Capitol building "showed Sparks entering through the window and jumping down to the floor. Despite others' screams of 'don’t go in,' Sparks climbed through a window next to the Senate Wing Door that had been broken by rioters with a police shield," prosecutors said.

'We want a civil war,' accused wrote on social media

Once inside the Capitol, Sparks yelled: "This is our America! This is our America!," as he grew increasingly agitated, the statement said, while also highlighting that evidence presented during the trial showed that in the days leading up to January 6, Sparks wrote on social media platform Parler, "We want a civil war."

According to the US Department of Justice, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged for crimes related to the attack on the Capitol since January 6, 2021.

On that day, supporters of then President Donald Trump stormed the US Congressional seat in Washington, where Trump's election defeat to Joe Biden was to be certified at the time.

Five people died as a result of the attack on the Capitol, including a police officer who was beaten, a rioter who was shot, and three others amid the rampage.

jsi/sri (dpa, AFP, AP)