A Capitol rioter was sentenced to 5 years in prison for breaking a pole on a cop's riot shield, then grabbing a heavier pole and attacking police again

• A Capitol rioter was sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting three cops with a pole.
• Mark K. Ponder first swung at an officer who protected himself with a shield, breaking the pole.

A capitol rioter was sentenced to 63 months in prison for assaulting three police officers on January 6, 2021.

Mark K. Ponder, a 56-year-old from Washington, D.C., was sentenced in the District on Tuesday, making his one of the longest prison sentences anyone from the Capitol riots has faced thus far.

Ponder was accused of assaulting officers on the Capitol's West Plaza after rioters broke through the police barrier in the area, according to court documents.

He first swung a thin pole at an officer, which broke when it hit the officer's riot shield, court documents said.

Ponder then grabbed a second, "sturdier" pole — one with red, white, and blue stripes — court documents said, and swung the new pole at a second officer.

According to court documents, about fifteen minutes later, Ponder traveled to the Capitol's Upper West Terrace where he assaulted a third police officer with the same sturdy pole.

After assaulting the third officer, Ponder was taken down by police, court documents said. But those officers were unable to arrest him and were forced to release him because they could not get a transport vehicle back to the Capitol grounds.

Ponder was told to leave the Capitol at this point, but instead returned to the Lower West Terrace to re-join the mob confronting other officers at the mouth of the tunnel, according to court documents.

Ponder was finally arrested on March 17, 2021 and pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon on April 22, 2022, a release from the Department of Justice said.

In addition to his prison sentence, he will placed on three years of supervised release following his time served, and he will also have to pay $2,000 in restitution, according to the release.

So far, over 850 people have been arrested for crimes related to the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.