A Utah farmer and one-time MMA fighter who hit police guarding the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 with wood and metal poles is going to prison.
Odin Meacham , 30, was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a press release . Bates found Meacham guilty of civil disorder, assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct and trespassing.
Related Coverage:
In their sentencing memo asking for 96 months — or eight years — incarceration, prosecutors called Meacham “an agent of chaos” as he repeatedly attacked police officers at the Capitol’s West Plaza.
“Meacham initially attempted to take away a bike rack barricade that police officers had been using for protection,” prosecutors said. “After being pepper sprayed, Meacham picked up a wooden flagpole and struck a police officer on his upper body so hard that the flagpole broke in half. Meacham was then pepper sprayed again. Undeterred, Meacham picked up the broken half of the flagpole and rushed the police line again, striking the bike rack barricade precisely where an officer’s hand had been just seconds earlier.”