Virginia man gets 18 months for assaulting officer with metal barricade during Capitol Riots

Joseph Brody, 24, of Springfield, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

"His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election," the Department of Justice said in a release.

Brody pleaded guilty to a felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers on Feb. 21, 2024.

Brody attended former President Donald Trump's rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, and later took part in storming the Capitol with his friends, the DOJ said.

After trespassing in the Crypt, the Senate Chamber and a conference room in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, Brody left the Capitol and walked around to the North Door to help rioters breach that entrance.

An officer there was trying to disperse the rioters using a fire extinguisher when Brody grabbed a metal barricade, lifted it up, and shoved it over a concrete station and into the officer, the DOJ said. The force knocked the officer backward.

Brody then went to where news outlets were stationed attempting to show the American people what was going on when he and others breached the barricades protecting them and destroyed and looted media equipment.

The DOJ said Brody and his group stole some items from the pile of media equipment.