A Georgia business owner was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Jack Wade Whitton, 34, of Locust Grove, attacked a police officer with a metal crutch and dragged him into a mob of rioters on the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. And later boasted in a text message that he “fed him to the people.”
Whitton was arrested in April 2021 and charged with various offenses related to his actions during the insurrection, including assaulting law enforcement officers. He admitted to his assault charge last year but claimed he was not a political person and had never been a troublemaker. However, the judge described the videos of Whitton’s attacks on police as “gruesome” and told him, “You really were out of control.”
Videos showed Whitton and a co-defendant, Justin Jersey, carrying out attacks on police that prosecutors said led to a violent surge on the Lower West Terrace. Whitton’s claims that he was not responsible for his actions were undermined by evidence of his violent behavior.
More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot, with many already sentenced to prison terms. Whitton’s sentencing is part of ongoing efforts to hold participants in the insurrection accountable for their actions.