A Chicago man who prosecutors said played a key role in a violent mob that broke through a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison.
The 38-month sentence handed down Wednesday to Daniel Leyden in U.S. District Court in Washington was one of the stiffer terms given to the more than three dozen Illinoisans arrested so far in the Capitol attack.
Leyden, 55, a South Side electrician who previously worked for the Park District, pleaded guilty along with his brother, Joseph, 56, of La Grange, court records show. Joseph Leyden was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden on Wednesday to six months behind bars.
According to prosecutors, the Leyden brothers traveled to Washington to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally held by then-President Donald Trump. After Trump’s speech, the brothers were among one of the first mob of protesters to reach a police barricade at the Peace Monument on the west side of the Capitol.
Capitol Police officers “attempted to fend off the approaching rioters, who were pushing the metal barricade and attempting to assault officers,” prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing.
“From his place at the front of the crowd, (Daniel) Leyden was in prime position to assist in achieving the crowd’s goal of pushing past the metal barricade,” the filing stated.
Still images from video footage taken that day were included in the prosecution memo showing Daniel Leyden repeatedly lifting up barricades and pushing against police “until the line broke and the mob swept past the barricade and USCP officers,” the prosecution filing stated.
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“After successfully dismantling the barricades with other rioters, (Daniel) Leyden got up on a low wall along the sidewalk leading to the Capitol and marched with the mob toward the building, his arms raised in celebration,” prosecutors said. An image of Leyden with his arms in the air was included in the filing.
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One of the officers was struck in the head by a barricade as Leyden and other rioters swept past her, suffering a concussion that still affects her today, including “random losses of consciousness,” according to prosecutors. Another officer suffered a severe leg injury during the same melee, but still managed to regroup and help usher rioters out of the Capitol building, according to the filing.
The charges against Joseph Leyden, meanwhile, stemmed from a later confrontation with officers. He admitted in a plea agreement to rushing toward and pushing an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, records show.
In asking for home detention, Daniel Leyden’s attorney, Thomas Leinenweber, said his client is a hardworking family man and St. Rita High School graduate who went to Washington to see Trump “one last time as president,” not to try to overthrow the election or start a riot.
“Leyden got swept away by the mob, and with it, so too did most of his better judgment and character,” Leinenweber wrote in a recent court filing. “He is mortified by his behavior and terribly regrets his conduct.”
As a result of the charges, Leyden lost his job as a Park District electrician that he’d held since 1999, Leinenweber said.
The Leyden brothers were among some 40 Illinoisans to be charged in the Capitol breach, an ongoing investigation that has been described by prosecutors as the largest criminal investigation in the country’s history.