From the Tribune staff reports
WASHINGTON – A Leeds man was sentenced on felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Joshua Matthew Black, 46, of Leeds, was sentenced to 22 months in prison for three felony charges and two misdemeanors.
Black was found guilty on January 13, 2020, following a trial in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds or buildings; entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amy B. Jackson ordered 24 months of supervised release and restitution of $2,000.
According to the government’s evidence, on Jan. 6, 2021, Black was among a mob of rioters illegally on the Capitol grounds. He entered the Capitol Building and was captured in photographs and on video, posted to social media sites, standing on the floor of the Senate chamber.
During a search of his residence on Jan. 14, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recovered the knife Black admitted he carried at the Capitol.
The FBI arrested him later that day at a police station in Moody, Alabama.
In the 28 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The investigation remains ongoing.