PHILADELPHIA — A Montgomery County man who beat a Washington, D.C., police officer with a Trump flag during the Capitol riot was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison Friday — one of the harshest punishments imposed so far for a person accused in the Jan. 6 attack.
Howard Richardson, 72, of King of Prussia, apologized to the court during a sentencing hearing in Washington saying “there’s no excuse” for his behavior that day. Still, he stressed that the officer involved hadn’t been seriously hurt and pleaded with the court for mercy.
“I’m a good citizen,” he told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly during a hearing in Washington. “I’ve been a good neighbor. … I went down (to Washington) as a patriotic citizen to celebrate. I allowed myself to be dragged into this mob mentality.
