Capitol rioter who attacked Reuters videographer and police officer gets more than 4 years in prison

(AP) – A person who attacked a police officer and a Reuters videographer throughout the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Wednesday to greater than 4 years in jail.

Shane Jason Woods, 45, was the primary individual charged with assaulting a member of the information media in the course of the Jan. 6, 2021, rebel.

Woods, of Auburn, Illinois, took a working begin and tackled the Reuters videographer “like an NFL linebacker searching a quarterback after an interception,” federal prosecutors wrote in a courtroom submitting.

Woods additionally attacked and injured a Capitol police officer who was 100 kilos (45 kilograms) lighter than him, in keeping with prosecutors. He blindsided the officer, knocking her off her toes and right into a metallic barricade. The following day, the officer was nonetheless in ache and mentioned she felt as if she had been “hit by a truck,” prosecutors mentioned.

“Woods’ actions had been as cowardly as they had been violent and opportunistic,” prosecutors wrote. “He focused individuals smaller than him who didn’t see him coming. He attacked individuals who had performed nothing in anyway to even have interaction with him, not to mention hurt or block him.”

Prosecutors mentioned they tried to interview the cameraman however don’t know if he was injured.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta sentenced Woods to 4 years and 6 months of incarceration. Prosecutors had beneficial a jail sentence of 5 years and 11 months.

Woods, who ran an HVAC restore enterprise, was arrested in June 2021 and pleaded responsible to assault prices in September 2022.

He additionally has been charged in Illinois with first-degree homicide within the demise of a lady killed in a wrong-way automotive collision on Nov. 8, 2022.

Whereas free on bond circumstances for the Jan. 6 case, Woods was pulled over for rushing however drove off and fled from legislation enforcement. Woods was drunk and driving within the unsuitable path down a freeway in Springfield, Illinois, when his pickup truck slammed right into a automotive pushed by 35-year-old Lauren Wegner, authorities mentioned. Wegner was killed, and two different individuals had been injured within the crash.

Woods was injured within the crash and was taken to a hospital, the place a police officer overheard him saying that he had deliberately pushed the unsuitable method on the freeway and had been attempting to crash right into a semi-trailer truck, in keeping with federal prosecutors. He stays jailed in Sangamon County, Illinois, whereas awaiting a trial scheduled to start out in January, in keeping with on-line courtroom data.

“Similar to on January 6, Woods’ conduct was cowardly, monstrous, and devoid of any consideration of others,” prosecutors wrote.

A protection legal professional mentioned in a courtroom submitting that it seems Woods’ “lack of judgment has been exacerbated by his drug and alcohol abuse in addition to untreated psychological well being points.”

Woods was armed with a knife when he joined the mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and disrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory over the Republican incumbent. Trump had earlier that day addressed the group of his supporters at a rally close to the White Home, encouraging them to “battle like hell.”

Greater than 1,100 individuals have been charged with Jan. 6-related federal crimes. Roughly 800 of them have pleaded responsible or been convicted by juries or judges after trials in Washington, D.C. Over 650 have been sentenced, with roughly two-thirds of them receiving phrases of imprisonment starting from three days to 22 years, in keeping with an Related Press evaluation of courtroom data.

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Related Press author Claire Savage in Chicago contributed to this report.