A Washington state man who pleaded guilty to a felony charge related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Sept. 17 to four months in prison and 24 months of supervised release, which includes four months of home incarceration, and was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
Benjamin John Silva, 37, of Yacolt, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder on April 5, 2024. The FBI arrested Silva on July 25, 2023, in Oregon.
He was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras.
“His 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. Department of Justice said in a news release.
According to court documents, Silva was identified on Jan. 6, 2021, at approximately 2:49 p.m., near an entrance to the Capitol building on the Lower West Terrace, often referred to as the Tunnel.
“Some of the most violent attacks against law enforcement on January 6th occurred at the Tunnel,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in the news release. “Inside the Tunnel, Silva made his way to the front of a crowd of rioters confronting an established police line.”
Court documents say that Silva entered the Tunnel for approximately two minutes and then left. Silva entered the tunnel for a second time at approximately 2:56 p.m. At about 3:04 p.m., Silva joined with other rioters inside the Tunnel as they began to move back and forth, applying force against the police line ahead of them that was guarding an entrance into the Capitol. Silva participated in this effort, adding his force, body and momentum in a coordinated “heave-ho” effort, the Department of Justice stated.
Silva also leaned into the line of officers with his hand upon the riot shield of one officer.
Silva then spoke with a police officer while an individual behind him sprayed the line of officers with a chemical irritant. At one point, as he continued to push toward the police line, an officer put his hand on Silva’s forearm area in an effort to push him back, but Silva resisted, pushing back against the officer.
Court documents say that even when other rioters were leaving the Tunnel, Silva fought to stay in and to press forward against the police line in a concerted effort with other rioters doing the same.
Silva made his way out of the Tunnel at about 3:07 p.m. but remained in the area outside the Tunnel for several minutes afterward.
This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Seattle and Washington field offices. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department, according to the news release.
In the 44 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,504 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 560 individuals charged with felony assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the news release.
The investigation remains ongoing.
