A man from New Jersey and another from New York were sentenced to prison on Friday after federal prosecutors said they had breached the U.S. Capitol building and attacked law enforcement officers during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The New Jersey man, Michael Oliveras, 51, was sentenced to five years in prison. He broke into the Capitol with rioters and urged them to drag members of Congress out of the building by their hair, according to a news release.
Prosecutors said Mr. Oliveras, who lived in Lindenwold, N.J., traveled to Washington to try to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election. According to the release, he documented his attack online, not only posting on social media that he had booked a hotel room near the building to scope it out, but also detailing when he entered the Capitol.
Mr. Oliveras, carrying an American flag, marched to the West Front of the Capitol and confronted police officers, the release said. About 10 minutes later, a video he recorded showed him barging into the building and looking for lawmakers, yelling, “Where are they?” He also called them “traitors,” prosecutors said.
“Drag them out by their hair,” he yelled, using an expletive.
Mr. Oliveras entered and was ejected from the Capitol twice. During an unsuccessful third attempt, he stood in a doorway telling others to “push” and then brawled with officers.
He continued with the riot for hours into the evening, marching to the other side of the building and encouraging others as they destroyed media equipment, the release said.
After he returned home, Mr. Oliveras posted on social media that the rioters had wanted to “get our bare hands on the flesh of those who have committed treason.” He said he would have “grasped and removed one of those traitors” if there had been an opportunity, according to the release.
Even after he was arrested in December 2021, prosecutors said he had repeatedly joined YouTube streams asserting that he was not sorry for his actions and would “do it again.”
Mr. Oliveras was convicted of felony civil disorder and assaulting officers, plus several misdemeanors. Judge Beryl A. Howell sentenced Mr. Oliveras on Friday, adding three years of supervised release to his prison term and ordering him to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Judge Howell also sentenced James Weeks, of Sodus, N.Y., to a little more than two years in prison. He had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting officers at the Jan. 6 riot. He was ordered to pay $2,774 in restitution and a $5,000 fine, and to three years of supervised release after his prison term.
According to a news release, Mr. Weeks, 55, opened a door to a tunnel at the Capitol to help rioters get to a line of police officers, and then he hit an officer with his hands and body.
After leaving the tunnel, he broke a window outside the building and cheered others on as they kicked and punched windows, prosecutors said. He was arrested in Albany in February 2024.
The two men are part of the more than 1,504 people across the country who have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. That day, many supporters of former President Donald J. Trump and members of far-right groups like the Proud Boys violently stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of the election won by President Biden. Several people died, including rioters and law enforcement officers who tried to protect the Capitol.
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