Florida man gets 4 years, 9 months for attacking officer at US Capitol insurrection

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Florida man was sentenced Friday to four years and nine months in federal prison for storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and attacking a police officer.

Mason Joel Courson, 27, of Tamarac, Florida, was sentenced in District of Columbia federal court, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in November to assaulting, resisting or impeding a law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon. The judge also ordered three years of supervised release and restitution of $2,000.

Courson was arrested in South Florida in December 2021.

According to court documents, Courson joined with others objecting to Democratic President Joe Biden’s election victory over former Republican President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying election results, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.

According to an indictment, Courson participated in an assault of a Metropolitan Police Department officer who was beaten by a group armed with a baton, flagpole and crutch. Earlier that afternoon, Courson participated in “heave-ho” efforts to advance into the Capitol in the area of the Lower West Terrace tunnel leading into the building, officials said.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for alleged crimes related to the Capitol breach, officials said. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.