Who is Doug Jensen? January 6 “poster boy of the insurrection” sentenced to five years in prison

On Friday, December 16, 2022, Doug Jensen, infamously known as "Poster Boy" of the January 6 Capitol Insurrection, was sentenced to five years in prison. D.C. federal Judge Tim Kelly considered Jensen to be the leader of the riot, which saw at least 840 arrests.

Prosecutors accused Jensen of chasing US Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up the stairs near the Senate chamber and claimed that he was trying to "fire up a revolution." Doug Jensen was reportedly one of the first ten people to have breached the Capitol on January 6.

He was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release after his release from prison and $2,000 in restitution for damage to the Capitol.

Jensen, however, showed no signs of remorse or guilt at the hearing. His statement or the lack thereof led to almost no leniency on the part of the judge. Jensen reportedly on said:

"I want to go back to being a family man and to a normal life before becoming involved in politics."

According to the Des Moines Register, while Judge Timothy Kelly did acknowledge mitigating factors like Doug Jensen's mental health and dozens of favorable letters submitted to the court by his family, he remained unconvinced by Jensen's own plea. While discussing Jensen's actions, an assistant U.S. attorney said:

"He forced Officer Goodman to retreat...[he] gambled on the fact Officer Goodman wouldn't pull the trigger."

She lauded Officer Goodman's actions when faced by an unruly crowd as "heroic." Jensen was convicted of all seven charges against him in September, including obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting a police officer.

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What did Doug Jensen do? Des Moines native accused of being at the "forefront" of the Capitol riot

On January 6, 2021, a mob of violent Donald Trump supporters breached security at the U.S. Capitol while members of Congress were still inside. Multiple videos and images of the terrifying incident have since spread across the internet.

One such video, posted by HuffPost political reporter Igor Bobic, shows the mob chasing a Capitol police officer through the building.

The officer in the video, identified as Eugene Goodman, can be seen trying to hold the crowd back from the senate chamber before he tries to create a distraction by heading up a nearby staircase. Bobic tweeted:

"Here's the scary moment when protesters initially got into the building from the first floor and made their way outside Senate chamber."

At the forefront of this unruly mob was Doug Jensen from Iowa, sporting a QAnon t-shirt. The Des Moines native was arrested days later and was booked into the Polk County Jail. During his hearing on Friday, Judge Timothy Kelly said:

"You, by your own actions, put yourself at the forefront of that mob."

According to CBS, Doug Jensen was found guilty of five felony offenses, including assaulting, resisting or impeding a law enforcement officer, and obstruction of an official proceeding. He will be transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.