‘Our house!’: Indiana man gets 5 years for using shoe, lamp and more to attack police during Jan. 6 Capitol riots

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Indiana man has been sentenced to over five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol with makeshift weapons and posting evidence on social media.

Curtis Logan Tate, a 32-year-old Jeffersonville man, was sentenced Tuesday to 63 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay over $3,000 in restitution for his charges, which stem from the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Court documents show that Tate attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C. in protest of Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Officials said he wore a black jacket, green tactical vest, green pants and a black knit cap to the rally while carrying a metal baton he had brought with him from Indiana.

After the rally, court docs show that Tate marched with a large crowd to U.S. Capitol grounds. Once there, Tate reportedly yelled “Keep going!” to the crowd before posting a photo on Instagram captioned “Before the first breach.”

Tate then reportedly hit a police officer in the hand with his metal baton before being pepper sprayed by another MPD officer. He then posted another video of himself to Instagram captioned “POST 1ST MACING.” In the video, he can be heard yelling “We’re tearing this m*****f***** down!” and “Push forward! Our house!”

Around 2:45 p.m., Tate and a large mob of rioters began attacking a defensive police line near an entrance to the Capitol building known as the Tunnel. This area, court docs show, was the site of some of the most violent attacks against police on Jan. 6.

While there, court documents show that Tate began distributing and using a variety of makeshift weapons against police. The items Tate used to assault officers included:

• A black speaker box
• A shoe
• A broken table leg with nails
• A floor lamp
• A long piece of lumber
• A metal baton
• A black nightstick

Officials detailed how Tate caused a mass amount of property damage while rioting for several hours, in addition to striking several officers on the head, hands and body. He was ultimately pepper sprayed at least three times by officers, court docs show.

Throughout the rioting, court documents show that Tate posted several more videos and photos to his Instagram account. These posts included captions such as “F*** ALL THESE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS” and “POST 2ND TEAR GAS.”

In March 2023, USA Today interviewed Tate for a story about Capitol rioters who had been identified by online sleuths but not yet arrested. In it, Tate acknowledged he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but denied assaulting anyone.

“I would never hurt an officer. I come from a military background, I’m very respectful of our military and police,” he told the newspaper.

After gathering evidence against the Clark County man, the FBI arrested Tate on Aug. 24, 2023, in Wilmington, N.C. Tate then pled guilty on March 7, 2024, to assaulting a law enforcement officer.

Over 1,470 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 530 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI’s investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information on the Jan. 6 Capitol riots or its perpetrators is still being asked to call the FBI offices at 1-800-CALL-FBI. To submit an online tip, visit tips.fbi.gov.

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