Thread by @rparloff

Lately, I haven’t been reporting much on the Jan 6 blue-collar offenders, but defendant David Dempsey’s story is one worth telling. DOJ is asking for a nearly 22-yr sentence for him (262 mos). h/t @ryanjreilly ...
1/13

... After attending the Ellipse speech, Dempsey answered Trump’s call to march on the Capitol. He paused at the gallows to make a video protesting that the noose wasn’t “just art” but was for every “treasonous piece of shit who doesn’t fuckin’ belong in this fuckin’ country”
/2

... Dempsey had shown up on J6 in body armor—a BulletSafe tactical vest, per govt. He made his way to the Lower West Terrace tunnel archway, climbing over others to get there. He then assaulted the line police officers inside for more than an hour ...
/3

... using his hands, feet, flag poles, a metal crutch, a metal pole, a wooden pole, and chemical spray. Here he is swinging a pole at officers. He was charged with 11 crimes, including 9 felonies, but allowed to plead guilty to 2 counts of assault with a dangerous weapon ...
/4

... When another rioter, Kyle Fitzsimmons (now serving 87 mos), dislodged Det. Phuson Nguyen’s gas mask, Dempsey sprayed chemicals into Det. Nguyen’s face. Here’s Dempsey spraying at Nguyen, per govt. ...
/5

... “I was choking under the mask,” Nguyen later testified. “I thought ... that’s ... where I’m going to die. ... I was thinking about my family before everything else.” ...
/6

... A fellow officer helped Nguyen up & to safety. Nguyen felt burning on his skin and in his eyes (and lungs, per govt). He “made the mistake” of showering, which spread the chemical and caused his skin to absorb the chemicals, which burned “for a week or two.” ...
/7

... While in the tunnel, Dempsey also used this metal crutch to strike MPD Sgt. Jason Mastony’s head, whose helmet had been knocked off earlier by other rioters. ...
/8

Per Mastony’s victim impact statement, the blow “cracked the plastic face shield of my gas mask. I collapsed and caught myself against the wall as my ears rang.” The blow caused a large bruise and abrasions, and possibly a concussion, per govt.
/9

... Dempsey’s sentencing guidelines, as initially computed by both probation and govt, are long—210 to 262 mos—in part because of his long criminal history, including 3 burglaries, grand theft, evading police (100mph chase), & assault with a caustic chemical. ...
/10

... But 2 days ago probation revised its recommendation downward after Dempsey got several of his priors set aside under Cal Penal Code 1203.4, which is intended to restore the civil rights of rehabilitated felons ...
/11
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di…

... Govt says it’s not sure how Dempsey did that, since he doesn’t appear eligible, in that he’s had these open felony charges since Aug 2021. ...
/12

Dempsey has not yet filed his own sentencing memo.
Govt’s sentencing memo is here:
USDJ Royce Lamberth is set to sentence Dempsey on Friday, Aug. 9.
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