First January 6 rioter to breach US Capitol is sentenced to more than 4 years in prison
CNN
The man prosecutors say was the first rioter to enter the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 53 months behind bars.
The man prosecutors say was the first rioter to enter the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been sentenced to 53 months behind bars. Michael Sparks, from Kentucky, was convicted in March by a Washington, DC, jury on several counts, including disorderly conduct in the Capitol. When Sparks breached the Capitol, prosecutors wrote in court filings before his sentencing Tuesday, it immediately set off “the forced interruption of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count and threatening the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 Presidential election.” “One might say Sparks helped light the fire that day,” prosecutors continued, “using his preparation and planning — including his protective body armor — to steel himself against the officers attempting to hold back the mob.” Sparks was part of the mob that rushed to the Senate wing door of the Capitol on January 6 and was the first to climb into the building through a window broken by another rioter. Prosecutors also say that he called for a civil war in online posts and purchased a rifle in the days before the riot.
Even after a press conference Thursday morning from the new leader of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Tom Homan, it’s still not clear exactly how much the mission will change in the aftermath of Alex Pretti’s killing.
As the Trump administration prepared late last year for the US military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a handful of officials began studying the US approach to oil resources in Iraq following the 2003 US invasion.
Bipartisan senators blocked a massive spending bill Thursday, as eleventh-hour talks continue to avoid a costly partial government shutdown that looms at the week’s end.
After weeks of nationwide protests, Iran’s Supreme Leader ordered a violent crackdown that left thousands dead. President Trump, who had urged demonstrators to remain in the streets, ultimately did not intervene — a decision that now shapes the narrow set of options before him.
As tensions between the US and Cuba rise to the highest levels since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the mood was grim at a recent staff meeting at the US Embassy in Havana.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar launched a Democratic bid for governor on Thursday, pledging to unify her state and move beyond a deadly battle with the federal government over immigration.
White House Border czar Tom Homan will address the press in Minneapolis after being sent to take the reins on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. President Donald Trump dispatched Homan following the fatal shooting of two US citizens in Minneapolis. Follow for live updates
Vague descriptions of presidential signing ceremonies, policy meetings and industry executive sit downs — mostly behind closed doors — began peppering President Donald Trump’s public schedule at the end of last year.
Stephen Miller has sought this week to distance himself from the recent fatal shootings in Minneapolis. But Miller has been the architect of Trump’s aggressive deportation push.
President Donald Trump’s sweeping deployment of National Guard troops to several major cities across the United States cost taxpayers approximately $496 million from June through December last year, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
President Donald Trump is weighing a major new strike on Iran after preliminary discussions between Washington and Tehran over limiting the country’s nuclear program and ballistic missile production failed to make progress, according to people familiar with the matter.
The White House and Senate leaders are moving closer to a deal to avert a government shutdown but are seeking to resolve final sticking points in eleventh-hour negotiations ahead of Friday’s deadline, according to several sources familiar with the talks.
More than a million fewer people have signed up for Affordable Care Act coverage for 2026, according to federal data released Wednesday. The drop comes after the expiration of the enhanced federal premium subsidies caused monthly payments to skyrocket for many enrollees.