WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A Fort Worth man was sentenced to more than four years in prison for assaulting officers, including throwing a tabletop, during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Columbia.
Thomas Ballard, 36, was arrested in August of 2021 in Fort Worth and pleaded guilty July 12, 2023, to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, officials say.
In addition to the prison term of 54 months, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ordered three years of supervised release, restitution of $2,000, and a $100 special assessment for Ballard.
Ballard joined a mob storming the Capitol Jan. 6. 2021, disrupting a joint session of Congress counting the votes in the 2020 presidential election, according to court documents.
Ballard made his way to the Lower Terrace and tunnel area of the Capitol building “where some of the most violent conflict was inflicted on police officers on Jan. 6” armed with a police baton at about 3 p.m. that day, according to a news release.
Ballard watched violent assaults against police inside the tunnel for more than an hour before he joined in and “began a series of assaults on police officers using numerous makeshift weapons that included a piece of metal scaffolding, several pieces of a wooden plank, and a white metal pole” at 4:28 p.m., officials say. Then, at 4:47 p.m., Ballard threw a tabletop, followed by a table leg and other projectiles, at officers, according to officials.
At one point, officials say Ballard also pointed a flashing strobe light at the officers to temporarily blind or distract them and threw a cup containing an unknown liquid at them.
After leaving the tunnel, but while still on Capitol grounds, Ballard gave an interview in which he was asked if he had gotten into the building and responded, “No. Not yet. They are holding pretty hard at the door,” the news release states.
When asked about the electoral vote, according to the news release, Ballard responded, “From what I heard, they suspended it because they are a bunch of cowards. We scared ‘em off.”
Ballard’s actions were documented in a series of videos provided to the FBI, body-worn cameras from the Metropolitan Police Department, open-source video, and surveillance footage from inside of the Capitol, officials say.
More than 1,230 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol since Jan. 6. 2021, including more than 440 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.
