A marine accused of giving a Nazi salute during the deadly Capitol riots has been sentence to nearly five years in jail.
Tyler Bradley Dykes, a Marine from South Carolina, seized a police riot shield from two officers and used it to force his way through police lines during the mob attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.
In April, Dykes pleaded guilty to assault charges. He had previously been convicted of a crime related to the 2017 white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia .
After serving a six-month sentence in a state prison, Dykes was transferred to federal custody in 2023.
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US District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced the 26 year old Dykes to four years and nine months in prison, according to the Justice Department.
Federal prosecutors had suggested a prison term of five years and three months for Dykes. Prosecutors wrote that Dykes "He directly contributed to some of the most extreme violence on the Capitol's east front,".
Dykes' lawyers asked for a two-year prison sentence, stating that Dykes acknowledges his actions on January 6 were "illegal, indefensible and intolerable."
"Tyler hates his involvement in the Capitol riot," his attorneys wrote. "He takes complete responsibility for his actions. Tyler apologizes for those actions."
At the age of 22, Dykes journeyed to Washington, DC, to participate in Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally alongside two friends from his hometown, Bluffton, South Carolina. After separating from his companions, Dykes was seen tearing snow fencing from the ground and moving bicycle rack barricades as he neared the Capitol.
Subsequently, Dykes joined other rioters in breaching a line of police officers guarding the stairs leading to the Capitol's East Rotunda Doors.
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Dykes celebrated his achievement by performing what prosecutors believe to be the Sieg Heil salute.
After seizing a riot shield from two officers, Dykes entered the Capitol, holding the shield in one hand and raising his other hand in triumph. Prosecutors also accuse him of using the shield to attack police officers inside the building, causing them to retreat down a hallway.
Dykes handed over the shield to an officer upon exiting the Capitol. While Dykes denies performing a Nazi salute on January 6th, prosecutors claim that his open-handed gesture was caught on video.
In August 2017, photographs showed Dykes participating in a march through the University of Virginia's campus on the eve of the Unite the Right rally, alongside white supremacists carrying tiki torches. One photo depicts him extending his right arm in a Nazi salute while holding a lit torch in his left hand.
In March 2023, Dykes was apprehended on charges related to the march. He confessed to a felony charge of burning an object with intent to intimidate.
Dykes had a brief stint at Cornell University in the fall of 2017 before enlisting in the Marine Corps. In May 2023, he was dismissed from the military under "other than honorable" conditions.
"Rather than honor his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, Dykes's criminal activity on January 6 shows he was instead choosing to violate it," stated the prosecutors.
Over 1,400 individuals have been indicted with federal crimes in connection to the Capitol riot. More than 900 of them have received their sentences, with approximately two-thirds serving prison terms ranging from a few days to 22 years.
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