Ex-cop from Richmond Hill found guilty of Jan. 6 crimes
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Rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. AP Photo/John Minchillo, File
By Ryan Schwach
A tambourine-wielding retired NYPD officer from Queens was found guilty last week of her actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection and breach of the U.S. Capitol Building.
Sara Carpenter, a 53-year-old retired NYPD officer from Richmond Hill, was found guilty on Thursday on felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from her involvement in the Capitol breach on Jan. 6.
Carpenter was found guilty of felony counts of civil disorder, and obstruction of official proceedings, as well as five misdemeanors.
Carpenter was arrested back in March 2021 in Jamaica, and will be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg on July 14.
According to the government’s evidence, Carpenter was captured on security footage in the Capitol Rotunda and elsewhere. Carpenter confronted a line of police officers inside the Capitol, shook the tambourine she was carrying and screamed “I’m a f–king animal,” pushed up against the officers who were guarding a hallway to the Senate chamber, and also slapped the arms of law enforcement officers who were trying to hold her back from further intruding into the Capitol.
Despite being told to leave, and despite enduring the effects of chemical irritants, Carpenter remained in the Capitol for a total 34 minutes.
“The breach was made. It needs to calm down now,” Carpenter was seen saying, shaking her tambourine over her head. “Congress needs to come out. They need to certify Trump as president. This is our house.”
The New York Times reported that the FBI received a tip that Carpenter had told a relative that she had made it into the Capitol.
Carpenter told investigators that she had left New York and driven to Washington “on or about” the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, the Times reports.
Carpenter told authorities that once she got to Washington she tracked President Donald Trump’s tweets to find out about the rally.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
According to the government, 999 individuals have been arrested in connection with the events of Jan. 6, and 320 have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
