BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that 37-year-old Thomas Sibick of Buffalo was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to 50 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $7,500.79 in restitution.
According to court documents, on January 6, 2021, Sibick was illegally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and was part of the group gathered on the West Plaza when he posted a video on social media which showed the crowd with the caption "Wildest experience of my life!!” and then filmed himself screaming “Just got tear-gassed, but we’re going, baby, we’re going! We’re pushing forward now!"
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, around 3 p.m. the same day Sibick was part of a crowd of rioters pushing against a police line at one of the two glass doorways on the Lower West Terrace that lead inside the Capitol. A short time later an Metropolitan Police Department officer was pulled into the crowd and members of the crowd assaulted the officer and restrained his limbs. During the attack body-worn camera video showed Sibick reaching toward the officer and removing the officer's badge and radio. Court documents say he later posed for picture with a United States Capitol Police riot shield.
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He pleaded guilty to one felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and one misdemeanor count of theft in March.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Sibick returned the stolen badge to federal authorities after he took it home and buried it in his backyard. The radio was never recovered.
