A man from Kentucky, identified as Luke Hoffman, age 40, was sentenced to a 20-month prison term for assaulting law enforcement officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. According to a statement from the Department of Justice, in a hearing on April 4, Hoffman pleaded guilty to two felony charges relating to his aggressive conduct toward law enforcement. The judge also imposed 36 months of supervised release and ordered Hoffman to pay $2,000 restitution.
Traveling from his home to Washington, D.C., Hoffman participated in the political rally that escalated into a violent mob storming the U.S. Capitol. Armed with anger and discontent, he pushed to the forefront of the chaos. As officers tried to hold back the tide of rioters with a perimeter, Hoffman, having arrived at approximately 1:25 p.m., quickly became a part of the problem that officers faced with maintaining a defensive position. Shortly after removing a segment of metal fencing from the officers' grip, Hoffman, around 2:28 p.m., further engaged by attacking a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer, attempting to wrestle away the officer’s baton.
Even after the initial confrontations, Hoffman's belligerence showed no signs of waning. Amid the crowd that had forced officers into retreat, Hoffman confronted an MPD officer once more and retaliated with OC spray when the officer tried to disperse the rioters. As the Department of Justice reported, this incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. on the same tumultuous day. Hoffman's presence at the Capitol remained until approximately 4:05 p.m., where he further backed and encouraged other rioters to assault officers at "the Tunnel," a site of particularly violent clashes.
