A member of the National Guard who started a manhunt by the FBI after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, pleaded guilty on Thursday during a hearing in Washington, D.C.
Gregory C. Yetman, a 47-year-old resident of Helmetta, New Jersey, admitted to committing a serious crime in Washington, D.C. He pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with physical contact. This information was released by officials at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Officials said that Yetmen admitted to spraying police officers with a deadly substance and pleaded guilty. According to authorities, while rioters were attacking police officers, Yetman grabbed an MK-46H canister filled with OC spray. This spray can cause serious harm to the body. Yetman held the canister under his arm and intentionally sprayed the officers, assaulting them.
“According to officials, Yetman sprayed multiple officers for about 12-14 seconds. After that, the officers moved away from Yetman and went towards other officers, leaving the area,” officials said.
Also Read: The US Abortion Debate Continues With Arizona Ban Repeal and Supreme Court Decision
According to officials from the Justice Department, when officers attempted to arrest Yetman on November 8, 2023, he ran away into the woods because he couldn’t get back inside his house. Yetman, who worked with heavy machinery and joined the military police during the riot, confirmed that he did attend it.
Court documents show that he later went to the west side of the U.S. Capitol building, where he heard people chanting, ‘Stop the Steal.’ While he was there, he heard loud noises called ‘flash bangs’ and saw tear gas being used by U.S. Capitol police officers who were protecting the Capitol. He saw people involved in the riot who had been affected by gas and oleoresin capsicum (‘OC’) spray. He also witnessed other rioters trying to break windows. He also witnessed a police officer being pulled into the crowd but chose not to assist the officer.
Yetman was one of 15 people who were being held in custody even though they had not been found guilty of a crime. Since the Capitol riot occurred over three years ago, approximately 1,385 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for various crimes related to the incident. Among these charges, around 500 people have been accused of assaulting or obstructing law enforcement, which is considered a felony. The investigation is still ongoing. Prosecutors stated that Yetman is likely to spend 37 to 46 months in federal prison.
Leave a Reply