An Owensboro man has received a 14-year prison sentence for attacking police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. It’s the longest sentence to date among the Capitol riot cases.
Peter Schwartz, 49, was found guilty of multiple charges in December according to national media outlets. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on Friday to 14 years and 2 months in prison plus 3 years of supervised release, according to the Associated Press.
Schwartz was working as a welder in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, prior to his arrest, though his attorneys said he considers his home to be in Owensboro. Schwartz has 38 prior felony convictions since 1991.
Reports show that Schwartz was armed with a wooden tire knocker when he joined other rioters, and prosecutors said he threw a folding chair at the line of officers protecting the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace.
“By throwing that chair, Schwartz directly contributed to the fall of the police line that enabled rioters to flood forward and take over the entire terrace,” the prosecution wrote in a court filing.
Prosecutors said Schwartz then found an abandoned police-issued pepper spray and used it against the retreating officers.
Schwartz was tried with co-defendants Markus Maly and Jeffrey Brown, and all three were found guilty of felony offenses in December. Brown has already been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, while Maly has yet to receive a sentence.
Owensboro Times reported about Schwartz’s arrest in February 2021. Read more on that here.
