The pro-Trump rioter who marched through the halls of Congress while wielding a Confederate flag on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 36 months behind bars on Thursday, more than two years after photos of him became some of the most widely recognized images of the attack on the Capitol.
Capitol police officer during the insurrection Jan. 6, 2021, says he is “deeply sorry” for his treasonous ways.
Kevin Seefried was excoriated during his sentencing Thursday as a judge reminded the Capitol rioter of the significance of racist optics behind his actions on that fateful day in American history,
How “deeply offensive” it is to “use a Confederate flag … as a weapon against an African American officer.”
During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden explained to Seefried
McFadden seemingly expressed doubt at Seefried’s insistence that he was unaware of the racist history of the Confederate flag.
“Even putting aside the racist connotations, which you said you did not intend,” McFadden told Seefried his actions were nonetheless “appalling” considering the insurrection that was aimed at preventing Joe Biden’s election from being certified in a failed effort to restore Donald Trump’s presidency under false pretenses.
The “African American officer” McFadden referenced is Eugene Goodman, the U.S. Capitol Police officer who famously fought back and lured the domestic terrorists and right-wing extremists storming the Capitol away from U.S. Senators and toward backup help.
To be clear, the Confederate flag remains a controversial symbol that was at times strategically used to directly challenge and intimidate Black people demanding equality and justice.
Notably, Trump defended the Confederate flag when he was president as a poll in 2020 found that most democratic voters viewed it as a symbol of anti-Black racism.
It was decidedly in that context that Seefried both illegally entered the U.S. Capitol and threatened Officer Goodman with his Confederate flag.
