Crime
North Texas man who said he helped ‘take the Hill’ sentenced for assaulting 3 officers
A North Texas man was sentenced to more than two years in prison and three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to assaulting three officers at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release Thursday.
Daniel Dink Phipps, of Garland, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $270 special assessment.
Phipps, a former security guard, pleaded guilty to two offenses — one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and one count of civil disorder — on May 4. He also pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and parading and picketing in a Capitol building.
Phipps assaulted three police officers who were “facing off” a violent mob and were struggling to move Phipps and other rioters off the Capitol’s north terrace, according to court documents.
He was recorded on officers’ body-camera videos, where he is seen violently resisting to leave the terrace, authorities said.
After assaulting the third officer, he complied and left Capitol grounds, according to the release.
Phipps threatened the group of officers and said, “You know this isn’t the end. You know this isn’t over,” according to the release. He also posted on social media that he helped, “take the Hill,” the release said.
Phipps tried to justify his actions at the riot in a Facebook post where he wrote, “I helped other Patriots prevent antifa from damaging anything. I exercised my 1st Amendment right to take grievances to our representatives. Where were you on 06JAN21,” the release states.
He also posted a picture of himself inside the Capitol with an American flag hanging over his shoulder.
He was arrested on Jan. 26, 2021, in Corpus Christi.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., more than 1,100 people across the U.S. have been arrested for crimes related to the insurrection. Of that number, more than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.