A Florida man who stole a riot shield and used it help push against officers in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a half in prison, prosecutors said.
Joshua Doolin, 25, of Lakeland, was sentenced to 18 months Wednesday, a little more than five months after he was found guilty, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington said in a statement.
Doolin was recorded holding a stolen police shield and yelling “I got a riot shield!” and he joined the pro-Trump mob pushing against police on the Lower West Terrace, prosecutors said.
Doolin was convicted at a bench trial, which means a judge found him guilty, on March 15.
He was convicted of civil disorder, which resulted in the 18-month sentence, and three other counts, each resulting in 12-month sentences, according to court records. The sentences will run at the same time.
Doolin plans to appeal his conviction, said his attorney, Allen Orenberg.
In a court document filed ahead of sentencing, Orenberg argued that Doolin was an EMT/firefighter before Jan. 6, 2021, and has no criminal history. He also never entered the Capitol, Orenberg argued.
“As one of the younger participants in the January 6th events, he had heretofore lived an exemplary life,” Orenberg wrote.
Orenberg also argued that Doolin was fired as an EMT, that he now has a felony conviction and that news about him has caused many to have “lumped him together with right wing extremists / groups.” He sought six months of home detention.
Doolin kept the riot shield as a souvenir, prosecutors said. They asked for 30 months, or two years and six months, in prison.
“Doolin was an active participant in that attack. More than that, however, he was an enthusiastic participant,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.
Doolin also called the attack on the Capitol a “revolution” and considered taking an AR-15 style rifle but changed his mind, they argued. He has shown an “utter lack of remorse,” prosecutors wrote.
The Jan. 6 attack was carried out by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump as Congress was formally counting the electoral votes showing Trump had lost re-election. The proceedings, normally a formality, were interrupted by the attack.
Trump was indicted Aug. 1 on federal charges in Washington that he conspired to try to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty.
