A South Carolina man has been sentenced to over three years in prison for his actions during the January 6th Capitol breach. According to The Department of Justice, he assaulted law enforcement officers. Thomas Andrew Casselman, a 30-year-old from Walhalla, was given a 40-month sentence alongside 36 months of supervised release, and a restitution payment of $2,000, after he previously pled guilty to a felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.
The conviction stems from Casselman joining the "Stop the Steal" rally and subsequently moving toward the Capitol, where he was filmed taunting officers and urging them to address the rioting crowd, then deploying OC-based spray against several officers at close range, the action caused significant impairment to the officers' vision, it hindered their defense efforts, as the police line succumbed to the onslaught of the crowd, Casselman evaded back into the throngs of rioters, court documents detailed. Post-riot, Casselman’s online search history hinted at an awareness of potential legal repercussions, as he looked up the statute of limitations for assault on a police officer, definitions of a domestic terrorist, and information on how long carriers retain text messages.
Following a year-long manhunt, the FBI detained Casselman in March 2023. A joint effort by the FBI's Columbia and Washington Field Offices, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department led to his apprehension after he was put on a Be on the Lookout (BOLO) alert as subject #363, noted in the search for participants of the Capitol breach. Since the events of January 6, more than 1,470 individuals have faced charges related to the insurrection, with over 530 facing felonies for assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The significant sentencing of Casselman serves as a reminder of the severity of the Capitol riots, and the ongoing ramifications for those involved; the Department of Justice and the FBI continue to investigate and hold accountable those who perpetrated acts of violence and insurrection on that day.
