Florida man gets nearly 5 years for assaulting officer during Jan. 6 riot

WASHINGTON — A Florida man was sentenced Friday to four years and nine months in federal prison for storming the United States Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising and attacking a police officer.

Mason Joel Courson, 27, of Tamarac, Fla., was sentenced in federal court for the District of Columbia, court records show. He pleaded guilty in November to assaulting, resisting or obstructing a law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon. The judge also ordered three years of probation and restitution of $2,000.

Courson was arrested in South Florida in December 2021.

According to court documents, Courson joined others who oppose Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory over former Republican President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the election results, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.

According to an indictment, Courson participated in the assault of a Metropolitan Police Department officer who was beaten by a mob armed with a baton, flagpole and crutch. Earlier in the afternoon, Courson participated in “heave-ho” efforts to advance into the Capitol in the area of ​​the Lower West Terrace tunnel leading to the building, officials said.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for alleged crimes related to the Capitol breach, officials said. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement.