A man from Delaware who brought a Confederate flag to the Capitol in the Jan. 6 riot was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday. He was convicted on five charges related to the storming of the Capitol.
Washington, D.C., District Judge Trevor McFadden found Kevin Seefried guilty in June of obstructing an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and entering and remaining in a restricted area, among other charges.
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McFadden told Seefried that it was “outrageous” that someone brought the Confederate flag to the country’s capital. the judge criticized him for using the flag to jab at black Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman during the riot.
“I hope you realize how offensive it is,” McFadden said, according to NBC News. “You participated in a national embarrassment.”
Seefried’s lawyers claimed that Seefried had not intended to use the flag as a symbol of “racism” but as a sign of protest.
“[Seefried] brought the flag as a symbol of protest, but had not considered the logic of those who see the flag as a symbol of American racism,” his lawyers wrote in their sentencing memorandum last week.
“Now that photos of him with the flag have become iconic symbols of the horror of January 6, Mr. Seefried completely understands the harm he has caused,” they wrote.
Seefried supported the lawyers’ statement in an address before sentencing, claiming he had believed his actions were protected under “freedom of speech” and that he never intended to send a “message of hate.”
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Seefried’s three-year sentence comes after prosecutors sought a nearly six-year sentence. Seefried’s son, Hunter, was also at the riot. He was sentenced to two years in October.
The Justice Department has been working on cases connected to the Jan. 6 riot, in which a mob of Trump supporters tried to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, for more than two years. Altogether, the department has handled nearly 1,000 cases connected to Jan. 6.
