First January 6 rioter to breach US Capitol is sentenced to more than 4 years in prison

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — The man prosecutors say was the first rioter to enter the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 53 months behind bars.

Michael Sparks, from Kentucky, was convicted in March by a Washington, DC, jury on several counts, including disorderly conduct in the Capitol.

When Sparks breached the Capitol, prosecutors wrote in court filings before his sentencing Tuesday, it immediately set off “the forced interruption of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count and threatening the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 Presidential election.”

“One might say Sparks helped light the fire that day,” prosecutors continued, “using his preparation and planning — including his protective body armor — to steel himself against the officers attempting to hold back the mob.”

Sparks was part of the mob that rushed to the Senate wing door of the Capitol on January 6 and was the first to climb into the building through a window broken by another rioter.

Prosecutors also say that he called for a civil war in online posts and purchased a rifle in the days before the riot.

Two weeks before the riot, Sparks wrote online above an image of then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and then-Minority Leader of the Senate Chuck Schumer, “How about we the people drag you out by your face.”

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