HOUSTON — A Houston man was sentenced Wednesday for federal charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
According to the Department of Justice, Andrew Quentin Taake, 35, of Houston, pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon on Dec. 20, 2023.
Taake was sentenced to 74 months in prison, or six years and two months, and is ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
The DOJ said Taake was on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021. At around 1:16 p.m. He could be seen on Metropolitan Police Department body-worn camera video approaching and pepper spraying police officers who were trying to prevent rioters from entering the building.
At around 1:21 p.m., Taake again approached the police line. This time, he sprayed a group of United States Capitol Police officers from about 30 feet away. About 30 seconds later, at around 1:22 p.m., Taake sprayed a nearby group of USCP and MPD officers from about 20 feet away.
At 1:30 p.m., the DOJ said Taake, with his metal whip in one hand and bear spray in the other, joined other rioters to push the police line back.
Shortly after that, Taake reached over the heads of the other rioters and sprayed officers with bear spray for a fourth time. He also picked up a water bottle and launched it over other rioters at the line of officers.
Around 2 p.m., Taake can be seen in a second assault on law enforcement, according to court documents. As seen in the bodycam video, Taake emerged from the crowd and struck officers with what appeared to be a whip-like weapon. Taake can be seen on video walking through the U.S. Capitol building holding the same weapon.
At around 2:20 p.m. Taake entered the Capitol Building. Once inside, he made his way to the Crypt, holding the whip-like weapon at his side as he walked through the building. He spent about 20 minutes inside, according to the DOJ.
Later that day, the DOJ said Taake messaged a person on a dating app and spoke about what he did at the Capitol. That person then sent Taake’s name and messages to the FBI, leading to his identification and arrest in Houston in July 2021.
The DOJ said Taake did all this while on pretrial release for a still-pending child-solicitation case in Texas.
The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted this case.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,424 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol.