A retired NYPD officer, seen shaking a tambourine and shouting “I’m a f------ animal” during the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill in 2021, was convicted of felony and misdemeanor charges for her role in the armed breach.
Jurors in federal court in Washington, D.C., found Sara Carpenter, 53, of Richmond Hill, guilty on Thursday of civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, both felonies, and five misdemeanors after joining a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the seat of American government.
Prosecutors had said Carpenter was captured on closed-circuit TV in the Capitol Rotunda and elsewhere in the building, where she pushed up against officers who were guarding a hallway to the Senate chamber.
Officials said Carpenter also slapped the arms of law enforcement officers who were trying to hold her back from further intruding into the Capitol.
Despite being told to leave, and despite enduring the effects of chemical irritants, the Queens resident remained in the Capitol for 34 minutes.
Upon leaving, Carpenter urged lawmakers inside to set aside their effort to certify election winner Joe Biden.
“The breach was made,” Carpenter said at the time. "It needs to calm down now. Congress needs to come out. They need to certify Trump as president. This is our house.”
Then she raised and shook her tambourine above her head.
Carpenter told FBI agents that she went to the Capitol with others after hearing then-President Trump instruct them to “march to the Capitol,” according to a court filing.
U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg scheduled sentencing for July 14, 2023.
Carpenter retired from the New York Police Department in 2004 after about 10 years of service. During the 1990s, she worked as a spokeswoman for the NYPD.
Carpenter was one of a number of current and former members of law enforcement charged with participating in the attack.
The riot left five people dead, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Two other police officers who defended the Capitol that day killed themselves in the months after the riot, which injured nearly 140 other cops.
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