A Hoffman Estates man was sentenced Tuesday to six days in jail on charges he entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and physically grabbed the baton of a police officer trying to push back the unruly mob in the building’s rotunda.
Tyng Jing Yang, 61, pleaded guilty last year in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to a felony count of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder.
In addition to the jail term, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates for Judge Bates also ordered Yang to serve two years of probation, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Prosecutor had asked for up to 11 months in prison for Yang, writing in a recent court filing that he remained in the Capitol rotunda pumping his fist even as a line of police in full riot gear formed and tried to push the increasingly violent mob back.
“When Yang saw police officers work to push the riotous mob from the rotunda, Yang not only refused to leave but pushed to the front of the crowd to repeatedly—and physically—interfere with the officers as they attempted to clear the Rotunda of rioters,” prosecutors wrote.
Yang physically grabbed the arm of one officer, and when another officer pushed Yang towards
the exit, Yang confronted the officer and waved his hand in his face instead of leaving, according to prosecutors. He also grabbed a hold of another officer’s baton, prosecutors said.
Yang’s attorneys asked for probation, writing in a filing that while his involvement in the events that day was “regrettable” and personally embarrassing to him, he was “caught up in the escalating situation” and not trying to hurt anyone or hinder police.
“He did so in a moment of what he felt was self-defense during the commotion,” the defense filing stated. “Mr. Yang neither resorted to violence nor issued any threats toward law enforcement officers. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Yang left the Capitol.”
Yang, who was born and raised in Taiwan, emigrated to Canada before getting his master’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Florida, his attorneys said. He came to the Chicago area to begin a career with Motorola and is now a naturalized U.S. citizen.
In a letter to the court, Yang wrote that he went to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 because he felt like he had not personally involved himself in politics.
“Being a computer geek with guilt of not doing anything for the past 20 years besides typing on the keyboard, I decided to fly to DC to show my support peacefully and patriotically,” he wrote, saying he got caught up in the emotion of the day and “made the wrong call” by following the crowd into the Capitol.
“I am no longer a law-abiding citizen I once (was) proud of,” Yang wrote.
Yang was among some 46 Illinoisans charged so far in the Capitol breach in an ongoing investigation has been described by prosecutors as the largest criminal probe in the country’s history.
Nationwide, more than 1,200 people have been arrested in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on charges stemming from the Capitol breach, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com