By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON — The first rioter to enter the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack was convicted on Friday of charges that he interfered with police and obstructed Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
Michael Sparks, 46, of Kentucky, jumped through a shattered window moments after another rioter smashed it with a stolen riot shield. Sparks then joined other rioters in chasing a police officer up flights of stairs, one of the most harrowing images from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
A federal jury in Washington, D.C., convicted Sparks of all six charges that he faced, including two felonies. Sparks didn’t testify at his weeklong trial. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly is scheduled to sentence him on July 9.
Sparks was the “tip of the spear” and breached the Capitol building less than a minute before senators recessed to evacuate the chamber and escape from the mob, Justice Department prosecutor Emily Allen said during the trial’s closing arguments.
“The defendant was ready for a civil war. Not just ready for a civil war. He wanted it,” Allen told jurors.
Defense attorney Scott Wendelsdorf conceded that Sparks is guilty of the four misdemeanor counts, including trespassing and disorderly conduct charges. But he urged the jury to acquit him of the felony charges — civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding.
Wendelsdorf accused prosecutors of trying to unfairly blame Sparks for the violence and destruction perpetrated by other rioters around him. The lawyer said Sparks immediately left the Capitol when he realized that Vice President Mike Pence wouldn’t succumb to pressure from then-President Donald Trump to overturn Biden’s victory.
“Michael Sparks may have started the game, according to the government, but he was out of the game on the sidelines before the first quarter was over,” the defense attorney told jurors.
Sparks traveled to Washington with a…
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