WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 rioter who was armed with a concealed weapon as he led a mob that overran police on the steps of the Capitol was sentenced to seven years in federal prison on Wednesday.
Christopher Alberts, a Maryland Donald Trump supporter was found guilty on nine charges in April after he testified that “instinct took over” when he charged at police with a wooden pallet during the Capitol attack, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.
Alberts, told jurors that he “felt like it was a fraudulent election,” was one of just a handful of rioters who was actually arrested on Jan. 6. Had he not been taken into custody that day, federal investigators may never have realized he had a gun on him during the Capitol attack. The total number of guns in the mob that day will never be known, but other defendants have admitted they were armed, including Mark Mazza, who was carrying two firearms and received five years in federal prison when he was sentenced last year. Guy Reffitt, a Jan. 6 rioter who charged up the stairs alongside Alberts and was the first Capitol rioter to go to trial, also had a gun on him. He was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison.