Man who beat officer with flagpole during Capitol riot is sentenced to over 4 years in prison

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Arkansas truck driver who beat a police officer with a flagpole attached to an American flag during the U.S. Capitol riot has been sentenced to more than four years in prison. U.S. Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Peter Francis Stager on Monday to four years and four months in prison. Stager struck a Metropolitan Police Department officer with his flagpole at least three times as other rioters pulled the officer, head first, into the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The bruised officer was among more than 100 police officers injured during the riot. Stager pleaded guilty in February to an assault charge.