Jan. 6 defendant, who also attended 2017 Unite the Right rally, sentenced to 5 years

A Jan. 6 defendant with a long history of ties to white supremacist groups — and who appeared to raise a Nazi salute atop the Capitol steps — was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in prison for his violent role in the attack.

“We fought a world war to beat back the Nazis,” said U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell as she sentenced South Carolina’s Tyler Dykes to 57 months in prison. “The defendant thinks there’s something attractive about Nazi ideology.”

Howell also imposed a $20,000 fine.

Howell described Dykes’ case as one of the most egregious she has seen among Jan. 6 defendants. Dykes, a former marine, had previously been arrested for his involvement in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and had been on a path of escalating violence and adherence to white supremacist extremist views before Jan. 6.

On the day of the attack, Dykes ripped down fencing that helped the mob advance to the Capitol, wrenched a riot shield out of the hands of a police officer and then watched as the outnumbered police line guarding the rotunda doors collapsed. Inside the Capitol, Dykes joined a concerted push by a large crowd attempting to breach a police line outside the Senate chamber.

His case is among the most glaring examples of extremists who descended on the Capitol that day. The mob featured participants with a mix of ideologies, including some who believed Donald Trump’s claim that the election had been stolen, QAnon adherents and racially motivated extremists.

Two officers who were at the Capitol doorstep when Dykes snatched a riot shield sat in the courtroom and rewatched a video of the violent scene.

“I didn’t know if I was going to survive the day,” one of the officers, identified only as R.R., said as he addressed the court, recalling chants in the crowd to “hang Mike Pence” and “kill Nancy Pelosi.” “We felt helpless, … we were fighting for our democracy.”

Dykes’ defense attorneys argued that his relative youth at the time of the Jan. 6 attack — he was 23 at the time — should result in a lower sentence. But Howell emphasized that Dykes’ behavior on Jan. 6 was not merely impulsive or influenced by others. He took steps to prepare for violence, covered his face with a gaiter to mask his identity and acted at times like a leader rather than simply a follower, the judge said.

Howell also noted that Dykes had appeared to be on a descent into extremism for years, beginning with the Unite the Right Rally, where he was charged for burning an object with the intent to intimidate. While there, Dykes appeared to make the same Nazi salute that he made on Jan. 6, Howell noted.

Howell also said that even after Jan. 6, Dykes appeared to prepare for further violent extremism, noting that investigators discovered screenshots on his phone of processes for making explosives.

Dykes, for his part, urged Howell to show him “mercy” and said he had forsaken extremist ideas.

“I became a part of the mob,” Dykes said. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, I just wanted to be there. I will never do anything like Jan. 6 ever again.”

Dykes looked back to apologize to his parents, but not at the officer sitting in front of them. Moments later, he reiterated his support for Trump’s election.

“I stand with President Trump and support him to be the next president of our country,” Dykes said.