Jan. 6 Capitol Breach Participant From Northern Virginia Gets 4-Year Sentence

WASHINGTON, DC — A Northern Virginia man faces a prison sentence related to the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Hatchet Speed, 42, of Vienna, was sentenced to four years in prison by a judge in DC federal court. The sentence came after Speed was found guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

The judge also ordered 36 months of supervised release, a fine of $10,000 and restitution of $2,000.

Speed, who court documents identify as a Navy veteran, was previously sentenced to three years in prison in a gun silencer case in Virginia federal court. In the Jan. 6 case, Speed could have gotten a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the felony obstruction charge.

He is one of the defendants being prosecuted for the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. Prosecutors argued that the actions of the defendant and others disrupted a Congress joint session convened to count electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election in which now-President Joe Biden was declared to be the winner. Supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Trump claimed the election was stolen from him.

Court documents indicate Speed drove from his Virginia home to DC, noting in a text his home was "close enough to the city for those days when I just wanna be part of a riot." Speed attended the "Stop the Steal" rally that then-President Trump spoke at before heading to the U.S. Capitol. At the Capitol, he encountered toppled fencing and saw a rioter use a crowbar to break into an emergency exit door near the Senate Parliamentarian’s Office.

Prosecutors say Speed learned then-Vice President Mike Pence validated certain ballots he considered "invalid" in the presidential election. As detailed in court documents, Speed later told an undercover FBI agent, "I was like, ‘I’m going in there. Like I have no respect for people in this building. They have no respect for me. I have no respect for them.’"

Speed reportedly entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door around 2:51 p.m., about two minutes after rioters breached the door. Speed was in the Capitol from around 2:51 p.m. to 3:34 p.m., based on records of his phone location.

Speed reportedly admitted to entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in discussions with an undercover FBI agent posing as a like-minded person. Speed said he and others agreed to leave because they believed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed to delay the election certification vote. However, Congress certified the election in favor of Biden early the next morning.

After leaving the building, Speed took photos of rioters in the northwest courtyard outside the U.S. Capitol building and on the steps at the East Front. He also photographed riot police moving toward the U.S. Capitol Building and the inaugural stage at the Lower West Terrace.

Speed had been arrested in June 2022.

According to the Department of Justice, nearly 1,000 people in almost 50 states were arrested on charges relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.