Florida man convicted of involvement in Jan. 6 Capitol attack

WASHINGTON – A Florida man has been sentenced to four years and seven months in federal prison for three felonies related to the riot and storming of the US Capitol January 6, 2021.

Mitchell Todd Gardner II, 34, of Seffner, Fla., was convicted in federal court in the District of Columbia on Thursday, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty last year on civil unrest, obstruction of an administrative process and attacking, resisting or obstructing an official with a dangerous weapon.

Gardner was arrested in Tampa in June 2021.

According to court documents, Gardner joined others in objecting to Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over then-President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol to prevent Congress from confirming the election results for Biden over Republican Trump, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.

According to the criminal complaint, Gardner was part of a mob just outside the Congressional Lower West Terrace tunnel and used pepper spray against officers in the tunnel area. The contents hit one officer directly in the face shield and splashed onto two other officers, officials said.

Gardner also prompted other rioters to use a ladder to break into a window, prosecutors said. When the ladder was not in use, Gardner stood on a window ledge outside a Senate patio room and used the pepper spray gun to damage the window.

While inside the Capitol, Gardner waved to other rioters to come closer or into the building, officials said. He also handed what appeared to be a table or a desk leg to another rioter, and that object was used to attack police officers, prosecutors said.

As of Jan. 6, 2021, more than 999 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for alleged crimes related to the Capitol break-in, officials said. More than 320 people were charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement.