Burgettstown man sentenced to prison for Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol
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The Burgettstown man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to federal prison Friday, although he could be free in a month if he’s granted the much sought after pardon from the incoming Trump Administration.
Joshua Atwood appeared in federal court in Washington, D.C., as U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced him to serve four years in federal prison after pleading guilty Sept. 5 to one felony charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.
Atwood has been in custody since his arrest April 17 at his Burgettstown home after being charged with participating in the attack on Congress nearly four years ago. He was also ordered to serve three years on supervised release and fined $2,000.
Even with the hefty sentence, Atwood’s attorney indicated in previous court documents that he’s hopeful of receiving a pardon from President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to free the J6 rioters when he’s sworn in on Jan. 20.
Federal prosecutors had asked Moss to sentence Atwood to serve 63 months in prison, which was at the top of the range for the offense due to the severity of his actions. Prosecutors accused Atwood of using a “veritable arsenal of weapons to commit multiple violent assaults against the line of police officers” guarding the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace tunnel.
Atwood, 32, attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall and then marched with the riotous mob to the Capitol, where he went inside the building through a broken window and later exited. Afterward, he attacked police officers assembled outside a tunnel entrance below the Lower West Terrace, and then threw water bottles and a metal flagpole at other officers guarding the tunnel.
“He threw various objects at the police, including a metal bat, a metal pole, a thick metal pipe apparently torn from the inaugural stage’s scaffolding, and a speaker cabinet,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “He beat officers with a long, thick wooden pole and a riot shield. And he sprayed a can of pepper spray into the police line until it was empty. Atwood’s attacks on police only halted when reinforcing law enforcement officers arrived to assist MPD officers and were finally able to successfully push rioters off of the Lower West Terrace.”
Days before his arrest in April, prosecutors said Atwood was aware that he had been identified as one of the rioters, so he began making plans to slip away as federal authorities closed in on him. He also made numerous internet searches asking questions that spanned from how to live on the run without identification and whether his name was on any “most wanted” lists.
“I could probably load up the whole house in a u haul (sic) in a few hours,” he texted his fiancee while also suggesting she delete all of her phone messages with him, according to court documents.
Prosecutors noted Atwood’s lengthy criminal history that is “rife with disruptive and assaultive behavior,” including charges that are still pending in West Virginia when he was accused of robbing and stabbing a worker at the Crazy Donkey restaurant in Chester in April 2023.
“In any event, that Atwood chose to break the law so blatantly on January 6 – while in full view of law enforcement officers and a host of cameras – shows that Atwood is unwilling to adhere to lawful authority, which heightens the specific deterrence concerns,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
Following his arrest and extradition in April, Atwood has been jailed in Washington, D.C., while waiting for his case to be adjudicated.
Even if Atwood is granted a presidential pardon and released from federal prison next month, he’ll soon face trial in West Virginia in connection with the alleged assault and robbery at the restaurant in Chester.