The scene downtown on Inauguration Day. (Photo by Scott Heins)

The first Inauguration Day protester to plead guilty to felonies has been sentenced to four months behind bars.

Dane Powell, 31, of Florida pleaded guilty on April 28 to breaking windows and throwing a heavy object at uniformed law enforcement during a series of demonstrations on Inauguration Day in D.C. that led to scuffles with police and destruction of property that prosecutors say totals $100,000 in damages.

Judge Lynn Leibovitz sentenced Powell to 36 months, but suspended all but four months with time served (Powell spent five days in jail after his arrest on Inauguration Day). He also has two years probation and must pay a total of $200 to the Victims of Violent Crime fund, as well as receive treatment for alcohol and drug use.

The time served will be less than the 36 months sought by the government, but more than the total suspension of jail time that the defense had requested. The defense also asked that Powell not be taken into custody until he finished school at the end of July, but Leibovitz denied that request. Powell was taken into custody after the sentencing hearing.

The small court room at the D.C. Courthouse was packed, so much so that marshals began directing spectators to an overflow room down the hall. While the attendees included people showing up for other hearings scheduled in the room, many were co-defendants or supporters of Powell.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff said Powell was a “violent coward” who chose to engage in violence while keeping his face covered.

The government showed a video compilation of Powell at the day’s protests, beginning with him at Logan Circle among others clad in black shouting, “1, 2, 3, f*ck the bourgeois! 4, 5, 6, f*ck the bourgeois!” Then, the video identified Powell as one of the people smashing windows in downtown D.C., using a black flag to shatter a glass panel between Starbucks and Bank of America. Kerkoff noted that the Starbucks was filled with customers, many of whom hid under tables as protesters engaged in destruction.

The video also included photos of Powell throwing rocks, though Kerkoff acknowledged it was “impossible to tell” if he threw the rock that hit a police sergeant, resulting in a concussion. Five other officers suffered minor injuries that day.

While the defense team did not contest that Powell was the individual highlighted in the government’s video, they had their own video to share.

It showed Powell as a nine-year military veteran and activist, protesting at Standing Rock, feeding the homeless, and playing with his young daughters. Voiceovers from friends and family described him as a caring “activist for the oppressed.”

Defense attorney Ashley Jones said the government’s video “cannot fairly capture what people in the crowd were feeling that day.” She also read a letter from a North Carolina woman who attended the Inauguration Day protests in D.C. with her 10-year-old son, describing the chaos and fear as police began pepper-spraying demonstrators.

“While others ran away, one person came towards us,” the letter said, describing how Powell helped them get out of harm’s way, though he was a stranger. “Police officers decided to spray pepper spray in a crowd with children. Dane Powell decided to help.”

“Mr. Powell is unapologetic about his politics,” said Jones. “But he is apologetic about his actions that day.”

Jones also mentioned how “police played a role in escalating what happened that day,” pointing to an Office of Police Complaints report that said MPD did not follow their procedures that day, calling for an independent investigation into their conduct. (The new budget includes funds for such a review.) The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the police and the city over excessive force and unlawful arrests.

The judge said the hearing was only about Powell’s conduct. Leibovitz said that while Powell “chose to actively participate in violence … he deliberately tried to hurt people, though he did not personally succeed,” she also gave “great weight” to his early admission of guilt.

About 200 other people arrested on or after Inauguration Day are still facing mass felony charges that carry sentences of decades in prison. Others among the 234 people detained that day pleaded to misdemeanor charges and were ordered to pay fines, but did not face jail time.

In a motion for dismissal, the lawyers of more than 20 defendants said that the government “seeks to hold the moving defendants criminally responsible for participating in a large group protest and simply failing to walk away when a small number of other individuals in the group allegedly broke the law.”

This story has been updated with additional details.