A Delaware man who carried a Confederate flag through the US Capitol during the January 6 riot is to be sentenced on Thursday.
Kevin Seyfried, 53, was previously indicted on five charges stemming from his involvement in the riot, which included obstructing an official proceeding – a joint session of Congress that was working that day to certify the Electoral College vote.
The government is seeking a 70-month sentence for Seyfried, while his attorneys have sought one year in prison.
Photos of Seyfried walking through the Capitol with his Confederate flag quickly became some of the best-known images from the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Seyfried brought up the flag “as a symbol of protest, but did not consider the arguments of those who see the flag as a symbol of American racism,” his lawyers wrote in their sentencing memorandum filed last week.
“Now that photos of him with the flag have become an iconic symbol of the horrors of January 6th, Mr. Seyfried fully understands the damage he did,” he wrote, adding that Seyfried knows that “the community and even That history can also be seen. him as a racist.
Prosecutors said that Seyfried was the first rioter to interact with US Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who escorted Seyfried and other rioters away from the entrance to the Senate chamber. Goodman ordered Seyfried to leave the building. In response to this, Seyfried asked Goodman where members of Congress were and “attacked the base of the flagpole,” the prosecution said.
According to the prosecution, Seyfried told Goodman, “You can shoot me, but we’re coming in.”
Seyfried participated in the riot with her 24-year-old son, Hunter, who was charged with her and sentenced in October to two years in prison. During Hunter’s sentencing, his attorney accused the elder Seyfried of pressuring his son to storm the Capitol. Kevin Seyfried was given permission by a judge to travel to Washington, D.C., to attend his son’s sentencing, but was not seen in the courtroom during the October hearing.
So far, more than 900 people have been arrested in connection with the January 6 riots, resulting in nearly 500 guilty pleas and dozens of significant prison sentences. The investigation is on.