Michael Sparks: First rioter to break into the US Capitol on January 6 is sentenced to more than 4 years in prison

CNN
—

The man who, according to prosecutors, was the first rioter to enter the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was sentenced to 53 months in prison.

Michael Sparks of Kentucky was found guilty by a jury in Washington, DC in March on several counts, including disorderly conduct in the Capitol.

When Sparks entered the Capitol, prosecutors wrote in court filings ahead of his sentencing on Tuesday, it immediately triggered “a forced disruption of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count and a threat to the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election.”

“It could be said that Sparks helped start the fire that day,” prosecutors continued, “by using his preparation and planning – including his protective body armor – to arm himself against the police officers who were trying to hold back the mob.”

Sparks was part of the mob that stormed the entrance to the Senate wing of the Capitol on January 6 and was the first to climb into the building through a window smashed by another rioter.

Prosecutors also allege that he called for civil war in online posts and bought a rifle in the days before the unrest.

Two weeks before the riots, Sparks wrote online over a picture of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “How about we the people drag you out by your face.”