Jan. 6 rioter from Kannapolis, who wore a red skullcap, sentenced for attacking police
A Kannapolis man found guilty of attacking police during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol will spend three years and two months in prison, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled Friday.
According to FBI search warrants, Brett Alan Rotella, 35, led a mob against police, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
He wore a red skullcap, black sleeveless puffy vest over a red sleeveless shirt and white or gray long shorts, court documents show. He carried a long pole with at least two flags on it.
Rotella followed retreating police officers into a tunnel, shattered a locked door’s glass pane and handed a ladder to the mob that it used against officers, the warrants show.
Also known as Brett Ostrander, Rotella raised his fist and yelled, “Hold!” to stop the group.. He counted down with his fingers to signal when to shove against police, according to the warrants.
“We just want things to be right,” Rotella said, according to court documents. “Something has to happen or we’re all f—ed!”
When Rotella went to an Aldi grocery store near his house in July 2023, FBI agents tracked him and compared his tattoos in person to pictures from Jan. 6. He was arrested after a judge approved a search warrant.
The FBI arrested Rotella on Aug. 29, 2023, in Mooresville, prosecutors said.
On Sept. 12, a federal jury found Rotella guilty of felony obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, two counts of felony assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers, and several misdemeanors.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss on Friday also ordered Rotella to three years of supervised release after he completes his sentence. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution.
Members of the U.S. House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack found that former president Donald Trump provoked his supporters to violence through his false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.
At least 1,572 people have been charged in nearly every state for crimes related to the breach at the Capitol. The investigation continues, according to the Department of Justice.