On Tuesday, a man who assaulted law enforcement officers with poles during the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, and continued to scuffle with officers even after being briefly detained that day, was sentenced to more than five years in prison by a federal judge.
The man was given this sentence because he continued to scuffle with officers even after being briefly detained that day.
Mark Ponder entered a guilty plea in April for assaulting law enforcement officers, and he has been held without bond since March 2021.
A period of three years of supervised release was also part of the sentence handed down to the Washington, DC resident who is 56 years old.
In January, Ponder remained on the grounds of the Capitol for close to three hours. Ponder engaged in a second violent assault after being detained for attacking officers and released earlier in the day amid the chaos.
This assault was one of the most brutal attacks between officers and rioters that day. Ponder was one of the rioters who engaged in this assault.
In a conversation with federal agents much later, he claimed that during the riot, police officers were “part of the problem.”
On Tuesday, one of the United States Capitol Police officers that Ponder assaulted, Sgt. Aquilino Gonell provided testimony before the sentencing committee for Ponder.
“It made no difference to him whether I was a member of the law enforcement or not. Gonell explained that it was irrelevant to him whether or not she had a family.
Gonell asked DC District Judge Tanya Chutkan, “Please do not fall for his plea because that day he didn’t care about me,” and described Ponder’s explanation that he got caught up in the moment as “BS.”
Gosnell was referring to Ponder’s explanation that he was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
During the assault, Gonell, who has become a prominent voice speaking publicly about the attack and its effects on law enforcement, stated that he told the court that he was injured by other rioters and blocked attacks from Ponder with his riot shield.
Gosnell has emerged as a prominent voice speaking publicly about the attack and its effects on law enforcement.
Before handing down her sentence, Chutkan stated that Ponder “wasn’t defending himself or anyone else; he was trying to injure those officers.” This was said about Ponder’s actions during the incident.
The sentence that was handed down to Chutkan was several months longer than the Justice Department’s request of 60 months, and during the hearing on Tuesday, the judge stated that she even considered going above the maximum guideline recommendation of 71 months.
Ponder told the judge on Tuesday that he “wasn’t thinking” during the incident. “On that particular day, I was not giving my full attention to thinking, and I deeply regret that.”
Ponder claimed that he had been pepper sprayed and that he had been caught up in “the tensions of that day” when he asked the judge for mercy.
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According to documents filed with the court, Ponder hit Gosnell’s riot shield with a thin pole while moving with a crowd on the West Plaza.
According to the court documents, the force of the blow cracked the riot shield and broke the pole; however, Ponder found another pole that was wrapped in red, white, and blue stripes and continued to swing at the police.
According to the plea agreement that Ponders signed, while he was being led away from the violence in the Upper West Terrace by police, he encouraged his fellow rioters by telling them that “they have a right to fight… that is what the Second Amendment was built on.”
Ponder, who was arrested two months after the attack, was overheard by federal agents at the time saying the following: “The way this country is going, you [officers] going to have to pick a side.”
