A Utah man pleaded guilty this week to assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, and he’s facing the possibility of more than four years in prison.
Landon Kenneth Copeland, 33, of Apple Valley in Washington County, entered his plea Thursday, specifically to a charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding police with a dangerous weapon. Ten other charges against him were dropped as part of a plea deal.
According to court documents, Copeland was seen on YouTube and Instagram videos pushing and fighting with police officers during the insurrection, part of a group of people trying to breach police lines.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Copeland grabbed police riot shields, pushed another man into an officer, grabbed and pushed another officer, and pushed a metal fence being used as a barricade against officers.
An acquaintance told the FBI that Copeland said he went to Washington and had gotten into a scuffle with police, court records state. According to the FBI, Copeland admitted he’d fought with police but said he did not go inside the Capitol.
Although Thursday’s hearing was without incident, Copeland has disrupted multiple virtual hearings since he was arrested in April 2021. During a May 2021 hearing, the judge ordered a mental competency evaluation after Copeland screamed and swore. The judge also ordered Copeland, who was appearing virtually in a Washington, D.C., courtroom from the Washington County jail, to be muted.
Copeland has been in the Washington County jail for just over a year. His time there will be credited as time served when he is sentenced.
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