Ohio pastor who used bullhorn to direct Jan. 6 pro-Trump mob gets prison sentence

Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Ohio pastor William Dunfee was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $12,000 for his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a violent pro-Trump mob. The attack disrupted the peaceful transfer of presidential power.

As the mob attacked and threatened the lives of members of Congress after a Trump speech urging them to fight like hell, Dunfee used a bullhorn to egg them on, falsely proclaiming Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Dunfee pushed a metal barricade against officers with the U.S. Capitol Police, who were attempting to hold the line, according to the Justice Department.

At sentencing Thursday Judge Reggie Walton asked Dunfee, "What kind of man of God would do that , sir?"

The Justice Department said Dunfee told police during the attack, "Mister police officers, we want you to understand something. We want you to understand something. We want Donald Trump and if Donald Trump is not coming, we are taking our house. We are taking our house."

According to court documents, Dunfee posted a social media video Dec. 27, 2020, that told his congregation, "The Government, the tyrants, the socialists, the Marxists, the progressives, the RINOs, they fear you . And they should. Our problem is we haven't given them reason to fear us."

Using a bullhorn Jan. 6 to support the Trump mob's capitol attack, Dunfee said, "This election has been stolen right out from underneath of our noses and it is time for the American people to rise up," Dunfee shouted in a video. "Rise up. Rise up. Today is the day in which it is that these elected officials realize that we are no longer playing games. That we are not sheeple that are just going to be corralled according to their whims and their wills."

After the mob attack delayed the electoral certification fo the election results and forced members of Congress to flee to safe shelter, Dunfee shouted "Hallelujah," and according to the Justice Department told the crowd, "Mission accomplished."

The Justice Department said in a Friday statement, "Dunfee was convicted of two felony offenses of obstruction of an official proceeding or aiding and abetting and civil disorder and the misdemeanor offense of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds following a bench trial before Judge Walton on Jan. 22, 2024."

The Justice Department added, "In the 44 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,504 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 560 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing."