TAMARAC, Fla. – A Broward County man pleaded guilty this week to assaulting, resisting, or impeding a law enforcement officer with a dangerous weapon during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Mason Joel Courson, 27, of Tamarac, pleaded guilty Wednesday in the District of Columbia.
Courson was arrested at his home last December for attacking a Metropolitan Police Department officer during the riot.
According to federal prosecutors, Courson was part of a mob that confronted police officers outside the Capitol building.
Prosecutors said some of the rioters were “throwing and/or swinging” various objects at the officers.
One rioter, Wade Whitton, climbed over a railing and repeatedly struck an officer with a crutch and kicked him, authorities said.
He then grabbed the officer and dragged him down the steps before he and others then dragged him fully into the crowd, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Courson, who was at the bottom of the steps, then beat the officer with a police baton.
The officer suffered bruising and abrasions from the attack.
Courson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31, 2023. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as well as potential financial penalties.
“Courson is among a group of defendants named in an indictment in this case that was returned in the District of Columbia,” the U.S Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced in a news release. “Three others have pleaded guilty. Whitton, 32, of Locust Grove, Georgia, pleaded guilty on Sept. 13, 2022. Justin Jersey, 32, of Flint, Michigan, pleaded guilty on Sept. 7, 2022. Logan James Barnhart, 42, of Holt, Michigan, pleaded guilty on Sept. 28, 2022.”
All are awaiting sentencing except for four others who have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting further court proceedings.