North Carolina man given 38 months in prison for role in Jan. 6 riot

July 12 (UPI) -- A man who pleaded guilty for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to a 38-month prison term Tuesday.

Matthew Beddingfield was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to assaulting, resisting or impeding officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon during the Capitol attack.

Beddingfield, who is from North Carolina, attempted to stab a Capitol Police officer with a flagpole during the assault and was recorded giving a Nazi salute.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols concluded Beddingfield "poses some risk of recidivism."

He also appears "to harbor deep resentment towards the Black, Hispanic, Native American, and LGBTQ+ communities while glorifying white supremacist figures, beliefs, language, and ideologies," Nichols said in his ruling.

The 22-year-old was first arrested in February of 2022 and has been out on bail with strict conditions since then.

"He was there for the violence, and he found it again and again," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Murphy said during the sentencing hearing.

Beddingfield was previously charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a Hispanic teenager in a Walmart parking lot in 2019.

Beddingfield's lawyers argued he had an "adolescent brain" and had asked the judge for probation.

More than 1000 people have been arrested so far in relation to the riot at the U.S. Capitol, with over 300 convictions.