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David Nicholas Dempsey, of Van Nuys, CA, admitted to assaulting two DC Police officers with dangerous weapons during the Capitol riot.
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are seeking more than 21 years in prison for a California man who launched one of the most vicious, prolonged assaults on police on Jan. 6.
In a sentencing memo filed last week, prosecutors said David Nicholas Dempsey, a former construction worker from Van Nuys, assaulted police for more than an hour as they were attempting to prevent a violent mob from entering the U.S. Capitol through the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. The tunnel was the site of some of the most intense fighting between police and rioters that day, and prosecutors described Dempsey as one of the primary components of that fighting.
“Dempsey was one of the most violent rioters, during one of the most violent stretches of time, at the scene of the most violent confrontations at the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” prosecutors wrote. “Unlike other rioters who slowly pushed their way through the crowd towards the Capitol, Dempsey climbed atop his fellow rioters, using them like human scaffolding, thrusting himself to the front. Once he reached the mouth of the tunnel, Dempsey began a prolonged attack, fighting with his hands, feet, flag poles, crutches, pepper spray, broken pieces of furniture, and anything else he could get his hands on, as weapons against the police. Dempsey’s violence reached such extremes that, at one point, he attacked a fellow rioter who was trying to disarm him.”
Dempsey pleaded guilty in January to two felony counts of assaulting police with a dangerous or deadly weapon for assaults on two DC Police officers – Det. Phuson Nguyen and Sergeant Jason Mastony – but prosecutors said those were only a small portion of the assaults he committed that day.
In their memo, prosecutors described how Dempsey emptied a can of pepper spray against Nguyen before throwing it at other officers in the tunnel. A minute later, he swung a metal crutch at the line of officers at least nine times. One of those swings hit Mastony in the head – slicing it open and causing him to collapse to the ground, believing he’d suffered a concussion. A second swing hit Mastony in the arm. Prosecutors said Dempsey also:
- Swung a collapsible metal pole seven times at police, striking officers’ hands, arms and helmets;
- Swung a long wooden pole at police, hitting one in the head, before throwing it at officers;
- Threw multiple objects at officers, including a flagpole, broken pieces of wooden furniture and a bottle of an unknown white substance;
- Climbed up on top of other members of the mob and stomped on officers from above, as well as another rioter who attempted to pull a pole away from him.
In addition to his assaults on police on Jan. 6, prosecutors said Dempsey has a “very significant history of arrests.” They include a 2021 assault with a caustic chemical conviction in Los Angeles, a conviction in 2017 for fleeing officers after breaking into a cellphone store for which he received five years in prison, and multiple other burglary and assault cases.
Prosecutors said the assault with a caustic chemical case foreshadowed his assaults on police on Jan. 6. In that case, a peaceful demonstration against then-President Donald Trump near the Santa Monica Pier turned violent after Dempsey dispersed a canister of bear spray against several protesters at close range.
Dempsey, prosecutors said, also committed at least three other “documented instances of vicious political violence” for which he was never charged. They include, prosecutors said, a June 2019 assault in L.A. during a political rally in which he hit a counter-protester over the head with a skateboard and an August 2020 assault in Beverly Hills in which he wrestled a protester to the ground, pepper sprayed him at close range and then repeatedly hit him in the head with a metal bat.
Prosecutors are seeking 262 months, or more than 21 years in prison, for Dempsey. If granted, it would be the longest sentence for any Capitol riot defendant not convicted of seditious conspiracy and the second-longest sentence to date. Only Enrique Tarrio, former national chairman of the Proud Boys, has received a lengthier prison term – 22 years. Peter Schwartz, a Pennsylvania man who had 38 prior convictions prior to Jan. 6, was sentenced in May 2023 to 14 years in prison after being convicted by a jury on 13 counts, including four separate counts of assaulting police with dangerous weapons and three other weapon-related felonies.
Dempsey was scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 9 by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth.
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