A Leeds man was sentenced Tuesday after being convicted on three felony charges and two misdemeanors in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach.
Joshua Matthew Black was sentenced to 22 months in prison for charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds or buildings, entering and remaining on the floor of Congress, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. He will get credit for time served while he was held behind bars for over three months after his arrest on Jan. 13, 2021.
Black will also serve 24 months of supervised release and will have to pay restitution of $2,000.
Before he entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a police officer shot Black in the face with a crowd-control munition.
Prosecutors said Black was the first to breach the Capitol at the Lower West Terrace and entered the Senate floor with a knife on his hip.
"Black was a notorious offender during the attack on the Capitol," prosecutors wrote in a court filing. "The nation was shocked and appalled at the events of January 6, and perhaps no other incident sparked as much outrage and distress as Black and other rioters' occupation of the Senate Chamber."
Defense attorney Clark Fleckinger wrote in a court filing that Black, an evangelical Christian, believed God directed him to go to Washington so he could "plead the blood of Jesus" on the Senate floor "to foster Congressional atonement for what he perceived to be the transgressions of [a] corrupt Democratic Party and Republican Party."
Black is among more than 1,000 people charged in connection to January 6.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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