Kansas man sentenced in Capitol attack says he is ‘ridiculously ashamed’

A Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, contractor mentioned he was “ridiculously ashamed” earlier than he was sentenced Monday to 4 months of incarceration for becoming a member of a mob’s assault on the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. District Choose Tanya S. Chutkan additionally ordered 48-year-old Kasey Hopkins to pay $500 restitution in a video convention listening to. His incarceration can be adopted by 24 months of probation, The Kansas Metropolis Star reviews .

Hopkins acknowledged in the course of the listening to that he was despatched to jail in 2002 for a rape conviction. He mentioned that after getting out, he tried to make amends and began a enterprise.

However on Jan. 6, 2021, Hopkins breached the Capitol twice and entered a senator’s personal workplace, the place he took photos of rioters ransacking the room.

“I’m ridiculously ashamed to be right here proper now,” he mentioned, including that “the mob mentality is a really, very actual factor.”

Chutkan praised Hopkins for present process “private transformation,” however she mentioned his involvement within the riot “boggled my thoughts.” Court docket paperwork mentioned that Hopkins proposed “forming a gaggle of ‘Proud Felons for Trump’ when he heard the Proud Boys may not settle for males with felony convictions.”

Hopkins initially was charged with 4 misdemeanors, however prosecutors dropped three of them in change for him pleading responsible to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol constructing.

About 1,000 folks have been charged with federal crimes within the riot that briefly halted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory and left dozens of law enforcement officials injured.