A Florida man described by prosecutors as one of the most violent rioters who attacked the US Capitol was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison, court records show. Kenneth Bonawitz, a member of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group's Miami chapter, assaulted at least six police officers as he stormed the Capitol with a mob of Donald Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. He grabbed one of the officers in a chokehold and injured another so severely that the officer had to retire, federal prosecutors said. Bonawitz, 58, of Pompano Beach, Florida, carried an eight-inch knife in a sheath on his hip. Police seized the knife from him in between his barrage of attacks on officers, the AP reports.
"His violent, and repeated, assaults on multiple officers are among the worst attacks that occurred that day," Assistant US Attorney Sean McCauley wrote in a court filing. US District Judge Jia Cobb sentenced Bonawitz to a five-year term of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release, according to court records. The Justice Department recommended a prison sentence of five years, 11 months for Bonawitz, who was arrested last January. He pleaded guilty in August to three felonies—one count of civil disorder and two counts of assaulting police. Bonawitz took an overnight bus to Washington, DC, chartered for Trump supporters to attend his "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House on Jan. 6.
Bonawitz was one of the first rioters to enter the Upper West Plaza once the crowd overran a police line on the north side. He jumped off a stage built for President Biden's inauguration and tackled two Capitol police officers. One of them, Sgt. Federico Ruiz, suffered serious injuries to his neck, shoulder, knees, and back. Ruiz, who retired last month, said the injuries inflicted by Bonawitz prematurely ended his law-enforcement career. "Bonawitz has given me a life sentence of physical pain and discomfort, bodily injury and emotional insecurity as a direct result of his assault on me," he wrote. After police confiscated his knife and released him, Bonawitz assaulted four more officers in the span of seven seconds. He placed one of the officers in a headlock and lifted her off the ground, choking her.
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