Burgettstown man pleads guilty to assaulting police officers during Capitol attack
Joshua Lee Atwood faces 51 to 63 months in federal prison
The Burgettstown man who assaulted police officers defending the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack on Congress pleaded guilty Thursday and will likely serve several years in a federal prison.
Joshua Lee Atwood, 31, entered pleas to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon while appearing in federal court in Washington, D.C.
As part of the plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Atwood could face between 51 and 63 months in a federal prison, although U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss will have discretion on the punishment when he imposes sentence on Dec. 20
In addition, Atwood also agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution to the architect of the U.S. Capitol for damage to the building. He could also face a fine between $20,000 and $200,000, according to online court documents.
Atwood signed the plea agreement with prosecutors on Aug. 21 and formally pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon while appearing before Moss. The sentencing guidelines took into account Atwood无毛视频檚 previous criminal history in Washington County, along with charges he无毛视频檚 facing for an alleged robbery and assault at the Crazy Donkey restaurant in Chester, W.Va. in April 2023.
Atwood was indicted earlier this year on federal charges connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and arrested in Burgettstown on April 17.
Investigators said Atwood went to former president Donald Trump无毛视频檚 无毛视频淪top the Steal无毛视频� rally on the National Mall and then marched with the riotous mob to the Capitol. He went inside the building through a broken window and then exited, where he began attacking police officers assembled outside a tunnel entrance below the Lower West Terrace. The indictment accused him of throwing water bottles and a metal flagpole at police officers guarding the tunnel, and striking others with a wooden pole.
He then doused the police officers in pepper spray and threw the canister at them when it was empty, according to the statement of offense attached to the plea agreement. He also used a police-issued riot shield to strike several police officers guarding the tunnel.
无毛视频淓very one of you should be ashamed of yourself,无毛视频� Atwood could be heard telling the police officers in a video recording of the riot. 无毛视频淓very one of you (expletives) are pieces of (expletive). Betraying your country like this, why would you betray your country? Do you love our country, or do you want civil无毛视频� communist (expletive).无毛视频�
Finally, Atwood threw a metal scaffolding pipe at the police line, hitting a DC Metro police officer无毛视频檚 riot shield before it ricocheted and struck a Virginia State Police trooper无毛视频檚 head and neck, according to the indictment. He also threw a 无毛视频渉eavy black speaker无毛视频� toward the officers.
无毛视频淭he defendant knew that the MPD officers and other police officers he attacked on January 6, 2021, were police officers lawfully engaged in the performance of their official duties protecting the Capitol and the people inside, and his assault was motivated by such status,无毛视频� Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel Whitesel wrote in the statement of offense attached to the plea.
Investigators matched a scar on Atwood无毛视频檚 forehead with a Washington County jail mugshot from 2011, and they located him following his arrest for the alleged robbery last year in West Virginia. He was extradited to a jail in Washington, D.C., following his arrest on federal charges in April, and has been held there while awaiting the adjudication of his case.