We’ve all seen graphic videos of the police officer who was smashed against a door in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. We’ve heard his screams and watched his suffering over and over.
The Department of Justice announced the conviction of the man who attacked the police officer. Patrick Edward McCaughey III, was identified and arrested after being captured on video assaulting Officer Daniel Hodges, pinning him down and crushing him with a shield during the riot. He has been convicted of seven felonies and two misdemeanors.
McCaughey, 25-years-old, was found guilty of nine charges for his involvement in the insurrection. The unrest was caused by former President Donald Trump losing the 2020 presidential election.
The seven felonies include interfering with a police officer during civil unrest, obstructing an official proceeding, aiding, abetting, assaulting, impeding and resisting police arrest, physical violence using a deadly weapon in a restricted building, and disorderly conduct.
Two other men, 26-year-old Tristan Chandler Steven from Pensacola, Florida, and 63-year-old David Mehaffie from Kettering, Ohio, were also convicted of nine felonies and four felonies, respectively.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden, who is a former President Trump appointee, convicted the three on multiple charges in a bench trial. A report said that the judge acquitted Tristan and David on the most severe charge, obstruction, after prosecutors failed to prove their case.
The US attorney’s office confirmed that the three men will receive their sentences in January 2023. They will remain in custody until then.
Officer Hodges spoke to CBS News and said that McCaughey grabbed his mask and ripped it away while knocking his head against the door, as seen in the video. He said he thought he would die during the attack.
Law enforcement officers, including Hodges, testified before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Hodges referred to the rioters as terrorists during his testimony.
McCaughey is facing decades in prison as the most serious charge, obstruction, carries a maximum of 20 years.
The Associated Press reported that Patrick McCaughey, who was 23 years at the time of the riot, was arrested in South Salem, New York, about two weeks after the uprising.
The attack on the Capitol happened as Congress met to certify the 2020 presidential election results. The mob, who had come from former President Trump’s rally, forced their way into the Capitol, causing Congress members to flee. A Capitol Police Officer was among five people who died in the riot.
At the time of the incident, McCaughey, who possesses dual citizenship for the US and Germany, was unemployed and living with his mother in Ridgefield, a town near the New York border. He was quarantined at his father’s second home when he was arrested.
