UNITED STATES NEWS

Wounded man who invaded Senate with knife sentenced to prison for Capitol riot

May 16, 2023, 1:28 PM | Updated: 3:12 pm

An Alabama man was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly two years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol and invading the Senate floor with a knife on his hip and a gaping wound on his face.

A police officer shot Joshua Matthew Black in his left cheek with a crowd-control munition outside the Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The bloody hole in his face didn’t stop Black from occupying the Senate with other rioters after lawmakers evacuated the chamber.

“Black was a notorious offender during the attack on the Capitol,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing. “The nation was shocked and appalled at the events of January 6, and perhaps no other incident sparked as much as outrage and distress as Black and other rioters’ occupation of the Senate Chamber.”

Prosecutors had recommended a five-year prison sentence for Black, 47, of Leeds, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Black to 22 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release, according to court records.

Black didn’t testify before the judge convicted him in January of five charges, including three felonies, after hearing trial testimony without a jury. Jackson also acquitted him of one count, obstructing a congressional proceeding.

Black joined the mob that disrupted the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. But the judge concluded that prosecutors didn’t prove Black knowingly intended to obstruct or impede the proceedings.

Defense attorney Clark Fleckinger said Black, an evangelical Christian, was motivated by his religious beliefs. Black believed God directed him to go to Washington so he could “plead the blood of Jesus” on the Senate floor “to foster Congressional atonement for what he perceived to be the transgressions of (a) corrupt Democratic Party and Republican Party,” Fleckinger wrote in a court filing.

More than 1,000 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related crimes. Roughly 500 of them have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to according to an Associated Press review of court records.

Black, who runs a lawn-mowing business, traveled alone to Washington, D.C., to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. He joined the crowd walking to the Capitol before Trump finished his speech.

Black, armed with a concealed knife, was the first rioter to breach the barricade at the Lower West Terrace, according to prosecutors.

“This brazen act no doubt encouraged other rioters, who soon after overran the entire Lower West Terrace,” they wrote.

Black then joined the mob on the West Plaza, where police shot him with a “less-than-lethal” munition, prosecutors said.

“Rioters near Black became enraged that he was shot, and they harassed and assaulted officers,” they wrote.

After entering the Capitol through the East Rotunda doors, he breached the Senate chamber and remained inside for over 20 minutes. Black rummaged through a desk assigned to Sen. Ted Cruz and posed for photos on the Senate dais. Before leaving, he joined other rioters in a “raucous demonstration styled as a prayer” led by Jacob Chansley, the self-styled “QAnon Shaman,” prosecutors said.

Black later told the FBI that he had a hunting knife on his hip — in a sheath beneath his coat — while inside the Senate chamber. FBI agents found the knife at Black’s home when they arrested him on Jan. 14, 2021.

He was jailed in Washington after his arrest and remained detained until a judge ordered his release on April 24, 2021. He’ll get credit for the jail time that he already served.

United States News

Associated Press

Heavy fighting in south Gaza as Israel presses ahead with renewed US military and diplomatic support

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Heavy fighting raged overnight and into Sunday in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive after the U.S. blocked the latest international efforts to halt the fighting and rushed more munitions to its close ally. Israel has faced rising international outrage and calls […]

3 minutes ago

Pauline Golodoff, left, and George Kudrin hold an iPad featuring images of their deceased spouses, ...

Associated Press

Death of last surviving Alaskan taken by Japan during WWII rekindles memories of forgotten battle

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gregory Golodoff spent most of his years on a quiet Alaska island, living an ordinary life, managing a co-op store, fishing for crab and serving as the village council president. But Golodoff’s recent death at the age of 84 has reopened a chapter of American history and stirred up memories of […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

3 people killed and 1 wounded in shooting at Atlanta apartment building, police say

ATLANTA (AP) — A shooting in Atlanta killed three people and left one victim wounded Saturday evening, police say. The Atlanta Police Department said officers responded to an address on Peachtree Road NE in the city’s Buckhead district around 6:25 p.m., WANF-TV reported. Police said three victims in their 20s were pronounced dead at the […]

4 hours ago

Heisman Trophy finalists, from left, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, Ohio State wide receiver Marvi...

Associated Press

LSU QB Jayden Daniels overcomes being outside CFP race to win Heisman Trophy with prolific season

NEW YORK (AP) — LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, becoming the first player since 2016 to win college football’s most prestigious player of the year award as part of a team that did not play for a conference championship. The fifth-year player, who transferred from Arizona State to LSU […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Homes damaged, power knocked out as severe weather rakes Tennessee

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An apparent tornado tore roofs off homes and knocked out power to thousands in Tennessee on Saturday as a line of severe storms raked the state. Police and firefighters in Clarksville were responding to multiple reports of damage in the northern part of the city, which is north of Nashville near […]

8 hours ago

Associated Press

The NRA has a surprising defender in its free speech case before the Supreme Court: the ACLU

NEW YORK (AP) — In a case of politics making strange bedfellows, the National Rifle Association will be represented by frequent nemesis the American Civil Liberties Union in an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court. The New York-based civil liberties group confirmed Saturday that it would provide legal representation for the gun-rights group in its […]

9 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

Follow @iamdamonallred...

Avoid a potential emergency and get your home’s heating and furnace safety checked

With the weather getting colder throughout the Valley, the best time to make sure your heating is all up to date is now. 

Follow @KTAR923...

Valley residents should be mindful of plumbing ahead of holidays

With Halloween in the rear-view and more holidays coming up, Day & Night recommends that Valley residents prepare accordingly.

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University: innovating Arizona health care education

Midwestern University’s Glendale Campus near Loop 101 and 59th Avenue is an established leader in health care education and one of Arizona’s largest and most valuable health care resources.

Wounded man who invaded Senate with knife sentenced to prison for Capitol riot