Man who used Confederate flag against Capitol Police officer on January 6 sentenced to 3 years in prison
By Holmes Lybrand, CNN
A Delaware man who carried a large Confederate flag inside the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021, riot and was part of the mob that chased a US Capitol Police officer has been sentenced to three years in prison.
DC District Judge Trevor McFadden found Kevin Seefried guilty in June of each of the five charges he faced, including obstructing an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and entering and remaining in a restricted area.
During the bench trial before McFadden, USCP Officer Eugene Goodman testified that Seefried had jabbed the base of the flag pole toward him multiple times to try to push him away. Seefried, Goodman said, eventually moved back to rejoin the mob after the officer didn’t move.
According to Goodman, Seefried “was saying things like F**k you, I’m not leaving, where are the members at, where are they counting the votes.”
Seefried recalled in an interview with that FBI that he told Goodman, “You can shoot me, man, but we’re coming in,” according to prosecutors.
Before handing down his sentence, McFadden said it was “outrageous” and “egregious” that Seefried brought the Confederate flag to the Capitol that day and “used it to jab at an African American officer.”
“You participated in a national embarrassment,” the judge said.
Goodman, who has been hailed for his actions on January 6, eventually led the group of rioters away from the Senate chamber and up a flight of stairs to a line of additional officers.
In comments to the court Thursday, Seefried apologized to the officers protecting the Capitol that day and said he was “deeply sorry for my part in January 6.”
“I never wanted to send a message of hate,” Seefried said.
Seefried’s son, Hunter, who was with his father in the Capitol that day, was convicted of several charges he faced and sentenced in October to serve two years in prison.
Eugene Ohm, Kevin Seefried’s attorney, said during the trial that his client wasn’t aware the Electoral College votes were being certified that day and therefore couldn’t have tried to intentionally obstruct the congressional proceeding.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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