WASHINGTON — An Albany man pleaded guilty to felonies including assaulting U.S. Capitol police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that attempted to overturn the results of the presidential election as Congress was in the process of certifying Electoral College results.
Jonathan J. Munafo, 36, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to three charges: assaulting, resisting, impeding or interfering with an officer of the U.S. government; knowingly entering or remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority and while carrying a dangerous weapon; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
A sentencing hearing will be held on April 29, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the nation’s capital.
According to court documents, Munafo was on the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol when he was captured on video striking a Capitol Police officer twice with a closed fist, striking the officer in the face shield and body. Munafo then ripped the officer’s riot shield out of his hands and disappeared into the crowd.
Related: How 7 Capital Region people were arrested after Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2020
At another point, prosecutors said, Munafo used a wooden flagpole to strike a window of the Capitol 13 times in an attempt to break it.
This is Munafo’s second conviction related to the crisis at the Capitol: He was convicted last May of calling the Calhoun County, Mich., 911 dispatch line over 140 times on Jan. 5, 2021, and making violent and obscene threats. Munafo demanded to speak to a deputy sheriff or sergeant about unspecified issues, but conceded he did not have an emergency to report.
When the dispatcher refused and asked him to clear the line, Munafo repeatedly called back and threatened her: “I’m gonna cut your throat. I’m gonna…
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