“I guess the last additional thing he needed to add to his pedigree, was assault of law enforcement officers,” Gonell said.īefore imposing the sentence, Mehta said: “It’s up to you whether you want to take responsibility for your actions. Gonell spoke about the chaos he and his fellow officers experienced on January 6 and said that someone with a criminal history like Schwartz must be deterred from committing more violent crimes. Aquilino Gonell made a victim impact statement during the hearing. “You took it upon yourself to try and injure multiple police officers.”įormer Capitol Police Sgt. “You were a solider against democracy,” Mehta said. The judge told Schwartz he was being prosecuted not because of his political beliefs or because he was a “political prisoner,” but because he repeatedly broke the law on January 6. Mehta responded: “I appreciate you saying what you said today, but I don’t believe it.” “I do sincerely regret the damage that January 6 has caused to so many people in their lives,” Schwartz said. Schwartz expressed remorse during the hearing. Schwartz has two prior convictions of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony. During his arrest, law enforcement found that he had at least one firearm in his possession at his residence in Pennsylvania. Schwartz was on probation during the time of the offenses, according to court documents. He then used the irritant to spray officers, causing them to retreat and put on gas masks, and found a second can of pepper spray that he sprayed at officers, they said. Schwartz, according to prosecutors, found an abandoned Metropolitan Police Department-issued canister of pepper spray. In this image from a Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer's body-worn video camera, released and annotated by the Justice Department in the Government's Sentencing Memorandum, Peter Schwartz circled in red is shown using a canister of pepper spray against officers on January 6, 2021, in Washington.
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