A California construction contractor who helped push a giant metal-framed Trump banner into police officers on the west plaza of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison on Sept. 7.
Mr. McHugh was found guilty in April 2023 in a partially stipulated bench trial of one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, aiding and abetting, and one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous or deadly weapon. Both are felonies.
Mr. McHugh deployed a can of SABRE Frontiersman Bear Attack Deterrent spray from a holster on his belt, prosecutors said, resulting in the deadly-weapon charge. Bear spray is a more potent formula than the pepper spray typically carried by law enforcement officers.
In a stipulated trial, both sides agree to a set of facts, and the judge renders a verdict based solely on those facts. No witnesses appear, and no oral arguments are made.
Defense attorney Joseph W. Allen asked for a 24-month prison term followed by three years of supervised release. Mr. McHugh has been jailed in pretrial detention for 27 months.
Mr. McHugh was part of a large, vocal, and violent crowd on the west plaza, one level below the Lower West Terrace. During the early afternoon, rioters threw flagpoles, metal fence tines, and water bottles at police, who responded with high-velocity pepper spray, tear gas, explosive munitions, and riot batons.
Metropolitan Police Department bodycam video shows Mr. McHugh berating police using a red and white bullhorn.
“We didn’t cheat the election,” he said at 1:31 p.m. “You guys like protecting pedophiles? You know? You guys like protecting [expletive] chomos? You guys like doing that?” Chomo is an urban slang term meaning child molester.
High above the crowd, the mysterious and still-unidentified man known only by the hashtag #ScaffoldCommander blared into a bullhorn: “Throw the fence down! Throw the fence down!”
Aimed Bear Spray
At about 1:11 p.m., prosecutors said, Mr. McHugh took a can of bear spray from a holster on his belt and fired long bursts at the police line, forcing several officers to retreat. He later boasted on social media, “I unloaded a whole can of bear spray on a line of cops. I got three of them down really, really good,” according to court records.At 1:40 p.m., Mr. McHugh turned away from the police line and noticed a huge fabric Donald Trump banner in a metal frame with wheels being passed forward by the crowd.
“This is Trump country!” he shouted. “Trump!”
As the sign came closer, Mr. McHugh grabbed the bottom frame and pushed it toward the police, bodycam video shows. “Put it up there!” he called out.
Prosecutors said Mr. McHugh telegraphed his intentions and bragged about his acts using social media.
In December 2020, Mr. McHugh posted on Facebook: “Going to D.C. Jan 5 6 7 to fight. HMU [hit me up] if you wanna join. Reservations made! …If this doesn’t make you want to get up in (sic) storm Congress and rip people out of office, then you need to move to China.”
Mr. McHugh came to Washington to protest “what he believed to be an unlawful and corrupt election result,” Mr. Allen wrote.
Based on an “unfortunate cascade of events,” Mr. Allen said, his client became swept up in a mob mentality, made worse by a severe lack of sleep that caused “exceedingly poor exercise of judgment.”
Judge Bates denied numerous defense motions made before trial, including a requested change of venue from Washington D.C. No Jan. 6 defendant has prevailed in seeking a new trial venue.
In the 32 months since Jan. 6, the FBI has arrested more than 1,146 people for alleged Jan. 6 crimes, including nearly 400 for assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
