Wellington man to serve more than 2 years in federal prison for Jan. 6 insurrection

A Wellington man who assaulted U.S. Capitol Police and Washington, D.C., Metropolitan police officers on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was sentenced to more than two years in prison in federal court on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Clifford Mackrell, 22, to 27 months behind bars, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release. A 2019 graduate of Wellington High School, Mackrell pleaded guilty in October to assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. He also was ordered to spend three years on supervised release after his prison term is up and to pay $2,000 restitution. "(Mackrell's) actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election," the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote. Federal prosecutors and the FBI said Mackrell, then 19, traveled from Wellington with his father, Michael Mackrell, to Washington, D.C., to participate in former President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6, 2021. According to documents Clifford Mackrell filed in federal court, he had a strained relationship "fraught and full of conflict" with his father since his parents' divorce. The men decided to go on a road trip to Florida and stopped over in Washington to attend the Trump rally. Michael Mackrell brought gas masks with him "because they had heard that Antifa and other counterprotesters were going to be stirring things up at the rally," according to Clifford Mackrell's sentencing memorandum, filed by his attorney, federal Assistant Public Defender Elizabeth Mullin. The father and son then marched to the Capitol wearing protective gear including gas masks, bandanas, gloves and backpacks, authorities said. As Congress went into recess that afternoon due to the actions of the insurrectionists, Clifford Mackrell and his father went to the West Front of the Capitol and attacked the police line there. Clifford Mackrell assaulted Capitol and Metropolitan police officers, pushing back their barricade. He "assaulted multiple law enforcement officers, including by striking and pushing officers, violently pulling at an officer's gas mask, and using plywood to push against officers," federal prosecutors said. He also tried to gouge out a police officer's eyes, according to federal court records, by reaching under the officer's riot shield and grabbing at his face. "The officer can be heard screaming in agony on a body-worn camera during the assault," federal prosecutors said in a news release and in court documents. Mackrell also pushed a sheet of plywood into a line of officers, forcing them back, and pushed multiple officers. Following the insurrection, Mackrell bragged on Facebook about what he had done, writing that he and the other rioters "sent (our) message" and that "the cops got there (sic) ass handed to them." Several tipsters identified Mackrell from photos and video taken during the assault on the Capitol and contacted authorities. He was arrested in Wellington on March 17, 2021. Defense attorney Mullin wrote that Mackrell never used a weapon or hurt anyone during the six minutes he and his father assaulted police officers and that he never attempted to enter the Capitol Building. He later also felt remorse and "began to realize that he had been part of a terrible event in this nation's history," she wrote, adding that his mental health struggles contributed to his actions on Jan. 6. In his own letter of remorse, Mackrell told the judge that he expressed "my deepest apologies" for his actions on Jan. 6. "I am filled with remorse and regret causing harm to law enforcement officers. I want to make it clear that my actions were inexcusable and completely contrary to the values of respect, civility, and lawfulness that I strive to uphold as a member of society. I take full responsibility for my behavior and understand the gravity of the consequences it has caused, both for myself and for others involved," he wrote. Letters of support also were written to the court by Mackrell's grandparents as well as three friends who named him godfather to their children. Seeking a lesser punishment of probation, house arrest and mental health treatment, Mackrell's attorney wrote that "locking up and further disenfranchising an obscure young man from Ohio will do nothing to deter others from engaging in such conduct, especially when the powerful organizer of the rally (Trump) remains free and on track to be the nominee for the president of the United States again. Mackrell "has admitted to, and feels ashamed for, the crimes that he committed. He has lost a job and his liberties and his freedom over the past two years," Mullin wrote in his defense. Michael Mackrell, whom court records said was allowed to travel to Washington to attend his son's sentencing hearing, pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers in federal court in September. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, 42-year-old Michael Mackrell is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on March 18, according to federal court records, The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio. The investigation was handled by the FBI's Cleveland and Washington field offices with help from U.S. Capitol Police and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. More than 1,300 people have been charged with crimes related to the breach of the Capitol and insurrection, including more than 469 charged with assaulting or impeding police. Five people died during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and millions of dollars in damage was done to the Capitol grounds. Federal investigations into the insurrection remain ongoing, and arrests are still being made, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Anyone with tips is asked to call (800) CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.Contact Dave O'Brien at dobrien@chroniclet.com.