USA sentenced the protester who first entered the Capitol during the riots.

A court in the USA sentenced Kentucky resident Michael Sparks to four years in prison for being the first to break into the Capitol during its storming in 2021. This was reported by the Associated Press.

The officer who detained Sparks during the storming called him "the catalyst of the riot." He broke into the building through a shattered window during a Senate recess.

Before sentencing, Sparks stated that the 2020 presidential election was "marred by fraud" and "completely taken away from the American public."

"I regret that what happened that day did not help anyone. I am sorry that our country is in the state it is in," the man said.

Michael Sparks was arrested less than a month after the riot. In November 2022, he and another protester were officially charged.

Recall that on January 6, 2021, a crowd stormed the US Congress building following calls from Donald Trump to restore justice. As a result, five people were killed, and hundreds were injured.

Later, more than a thousand participants were charged. A special committee was formed in the House of Representatives to investigate these events.

American David Dempsey was also sentenced to 20 years in prison for multiple assaults on law enforcement officers during the Capitol storming.