LAKELAND, Fla. — A Lakeland man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach, according to the Department of Justice.
Joshua Doolin, 25, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release. Back in March, Doolin was found guilty of felony civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and theft of government property, court documents show.
Doolin was arrested on June 30, 2021 along with co-defendants Michael Perkins, Joseph Hutchinson and Olivia Pollock.
Perkins was also convicted in March and was separately convicted of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in acts of physical violence while on the restricted Capitol grounds. He was also convicted on all the above charges, except theft.
A federal judge issued bench warrants for Hutchinson and Pollock back in March after the FBI reported they had tampered with or removed their ankle monitors and disappeared. A fifth co-defendant, Jonathan Pollock, has not yet been apprehended. The FBI is offering up to a $30,000 reward in exchange for information leading to Pollock's arrest or conviction.
According to court documents, Doolin traveled to Washington, D.C. with family and friends to attend a rally at the Ellipse. He joined with others in objecting to Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over then-President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying election results for Biden over the Republican Trump, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.
The DOJ said when Doolin was at the rally, he texted a friend saying "We are just waiting on word to go to the capital [sic]!!!" The friend responded saying, "Don't get killed on your birthday bro," to which Doolin replied, "I wouldn't mind dying with my family storming the capital [sic] on my birthday!"
According to evidence and testimony presented at trial, Doolin and Perkins were on the west side of the Capitol on Jan. 6. Hutchinson, pushed from behind by Perkins, charged a line of police officers in an effort to break through the line, prosecutors said. As officers descended into the crowd to assist another officer, Perkins picked up a flagpole and thrust it into the chest of an approaching officer, authorities said. Perkins then raised the flagpole over his head swung it down, striking two officers in the back of their heads, officials said.
Doolin and Perkins then advanced closer to the Capitol building, where he acquired a Metropolitan Police Department crowd-control spray canister and a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield, prosecutors said. Doolin eventually re-located to a Capitol building entrance passageway where he used the stolen riot shield to join the crowd of rioters pushing against the police officers inside the passageway in an effort to break through and enter the Capitol, officials said.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,106 people have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, officials said. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.