November 17, 2022 - 4:38 PM
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for stabbing two men outside the state Capitol during a clash between supporters of then-President Donald Trump and counterprotesters on Jan. 6, 2021.
A jury last month convicted Alexander S. Contompasis, 39, of nearby Rensselaer, of assault and attempted assault after watching video of the stabbing three times in slow motion, the Times Union of Albany reported. The victims, self-identified members of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group, survived.
The violent conflict occurred as protesters gathered outside state capitols around the nation and a violent mob stormed the nation’s Capitol as Congress took up the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough told Contompasis he went to the Capitol in Albany “ready, willing and able” to inflict violence on political opponents, according to the Times Union.
“That’s exactly what the defendant did. He violently, brutally stabbed political opponents of his -- one of whom he eviscerated,” McDonough said. “This wasn’t just a simple stab or an accidental stab or a ‘poke’ as the defendant attempted to describe it in his testimony. These were violent knife attacks.”
Hundreds of people face charges arising from the siege on the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building while Congress worked inside. A Tennessee man who dragged a police officer into a mob of rioters was sentenced last month to more than seven years in prison.
News from © The Associated Press, 2022