A Marine who stormed the U.S. Capitol and seemed to give a Nazi salute was sentenced to nearly five years in prison on Friday.
Tyler Bradley Dykes, from South Carolina, was serving as an active-duty Marine when he grabbed a police riot shield and pushed through police lines during the January 6, 2021 attack by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.
Dykes had previously been convicted for his role in the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. After serving six months in state prison, he was moved to federal custody in 2023.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced the 26-year-old Dykes to four years and nine months in prison. Federal prosecutors had asked for a five-year and three-month sentence.
Prosecutors said Dykes played a major role in the violence at the Capitol. His lawyers asked for a two-year sentence, saying Dykes regretted his actions and took full responsibility.
Dykes traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally with two friends. After separating from them, he ripped down fences and barricades to reach the Capitol. He then joined other rioters in breaking through a police line and, after reaching the top of the stairs, he was seen performing what looked like a Nazi salute.
Dykes took the riot shield from officers and used it to push them back inside the Capitol. He later returned the shield to an officer.
Dykes denied giving a Nazi salute, but video footage captured his gesture. In 2017, he was photographed at a white supremacist march making a Nazi salute while holding a torch.
Dykes was arrested again in March 2023 for burning an object to intimidate others and pleaded guilty. He had briefly attended Cornell University before joining the Marine Corps, but was discharged in May 2023 under “other than honorable” conditions.
Prosecutors said Dykes’s actions on January 6 showed he was breaking his oath to protect the Constitution. Over 1,400 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, with more than 900 sentenced, some to prison terms ranging from a few days to 22 years.