A Pennsylvania man, who confessed to spraying chemicals at police officers while wearing camouflage paramilitary gear and face paint during the January 6 riot, had his sentence reduced after cooperating with the government.
Samuel Lazar gave “substantial assistance” to the government, including providing prosecutors with “valuable information” regarding other January 6 defendants and even offering to testify in a Pennsylvania murder case, according to newly unsealed court documents.
After Lazar pleaded guilty in March 2022 to assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, he was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release.
The court records were unsealed on 27 December.
Police body camera footage showed Lazar grabbing a bike rack before deploying a “chemical irritant” at two officers, who had told him to “get back,” according to the complaint.
An officer then sprayed a chemical irritant at Lazar, causing him “to retreat down the steps.” However, Lazar then re-released his own irritant, rendering one officer unable to see.
The complaint also states that Lazar said, “They maced us, those tyrannical pieces of s***, and we maced them right the f*** back and now they’re taking the building.”
The rioter then also said, “They attacked the people. We have a right to defend ourselves. F*** the tyrants. There’s a time for peace and there’s a time for war.”
Video footage also captured Lazar screaming into a red and white bullhorn: “Let’s get their guns! Let’s get their guns!”
NBC News reported that Lazar’s lawyer described his behaviour on January 6 “stand(s) in stark contrast to the person that he truly is and the life that he led prior to that fateful day.”
The attorney then pointed fingers at the former president. Following the Capitol riot, Lazar “realised that he had been swept up in the false narrative spun by the President of the United States” and that he had “blindly followed President Trump’s cry to ‘fight like hell to take back the country.’”
Bureau of Prisons records indicate the rioter was released from custody on 13 September.
Since the Capitol riot 35 months ago, over 1,200 people have been charged in connection with the attack, according to the Justice Department. Like Lazar, more than 400 defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees; more than 700 individuals have taken guilty pleas to a variety of charges.
