Central KY man sentenced to 8 years in prison for helping start Jan. 6 riot at Capitol
A Mercer County man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in starting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Stephen Chase Randolph, 34, of Harrodsburg, was sentenced Friday, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.
Evidence at trial showed Randolph was one of a group of five men who ”participated in the first breach of the restricted Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, and led the initial attack on United States Capitol Police (USCP) officers,” according to the release. “Their attack paved the way for thousands of rioters to storm the Capitol grounds.”
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says the Capitol grounds were barricaded off with bike racks linked together. One of the men sentenced Thursday opened a section in one row of racks, and the rioters, including Randolph, walked past them and on toward the Capitol.
Capitol police were standing behind a second row of barricades, and when the group came to them, “Randolph began to forcibly push and pull on the fence directly across from USCP officers,” the release states.
Then several of the other men joined him and together they lifted the barrier up and “drove the metal bike rack barricade into a line of USCP officers.”
A female officer was hit in the face in the process and thrown backward. She hit her head against a metal handrail and the steps, which caused her to lose consciousness and suffer a concussion.
The bike racks were labeled with signs that read “Area Closed By Order of the United States Capitol Police Board” and were reinforced with snow fencing and zip ties, according to the release.
“After the five defendants pushed the metal bike rack barricade into the USCP officers, Randolph jumped over the barricade and grabbed an officer,” the news release states. “By this point, the barricades were down, and the officers outmanned. The defendants and the rest of the rioters quickly overwhelmed the police line, and the USCP officers retreated backward toward the Capitol building. The rioters, including the five defendants, then walked to the Capitol building.”
All the men, including Randolph, stayed on the Capitol grounds for hours, the release states. Randolph climbed “onto the Upper West Terrace, where he observed law enforcement engaged in a struggle with rioters inside and outside the inaugural archway, also known as the Tunnel,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Randolph was convicted of civil disorder, as well as two charges related to assaulting an officer, all felonies.
In addition to prison time, he was sentenced to 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
