PA man sentenced to 10+ years for using pepper spray, chair on Jan. 6.

Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Assaulting Police Officers at Capitol Riot

Peter Schwartz, a 49-year-old welder from Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to over a decade in prison for his role in the January 6 Capitol riot.

Schwartz was convicted of assaulting police officers by pepper spraying and throwing a folding chair at them. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, the longest sentence so far for any of the January 6-related convictions.

Prosecutors had asked for a 24-year sentence, but Schwartz’s lawyers opposed it, claiming it was a “political prosecution.” Schwartz has 38 prior convictions for violence and threats of violence.

Mehta said that Schwartz was a “soldier against democracy” and that his prior convictions played a role in the decision. He also stated that Schwartz was not a political prisoner and that he was not fighting against an autocratic regime.

Schwartz’s lawyers referred to Donald Trump as a “grifter” and said that Schwartz no longer believed that the 2020 election was stolen.

Schwartz’s wife was also sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the riot and has reportedly filed for divorce.

Actions of Peter Schwartz:

• Pepper sprayed police officers
• Threw a folding chair at police officers

Prosecutors said that Schwartz’s actions directly contributed to the fall of the police line, enabling rioters to flood forward and take over the entire terrace. While no officers were hit with the pepper spray, its effect was to heighten the danger to the officers in that tunnel.

Schwartz apologized for the damage caused on January 6, but the judge did not believe him. Mehta said that Schwartz took it upon himself to try and injure multiple police officers that day.

During a previous interview, Schwartz referred to his trial as “a sham, in the face of irrefutable video evidence.”