First Jan. 6 rioter to breach the Capitol spent months regurgitating Trump's election lies

WASHINGTON — The very first rioter to breach the U.S. Capitol is on trial this week, with federal prosecutors laying out extensive evidence that he bought into and regurgitated the lies being spread by Republican politicians, some conservative news outlets and former President Donald Trump about his 2020 election loss.

Michael Sparks, who worked at an electronics and components plant in Kentucky before the Capitol attack, faces six charges, including felony obstruction of an official proceeding and obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder. Sparks was the first rioter to enter the building, jumping through a broken window smashed in by Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola on the Senate side and then joining the mob that chased a lone Capitol Police officer up the stairs towards the floor of the Senate as members fled the chamber.

Sparks has pleaded not guilty and is taking his case to trial, but the defense is not disputing that he is the individual featured in extensive images and photographs that day. Sparks himself reached out to law enforcement in the aftermath of the attack after seeing he was wanted for questioning.

“This is our America!” Sparks allegedly yelled at officers after he joined the mob chasing Eugene Goodman up the stairs toward the Senate chamber. “This is our America!”

A jury was impaneled in the case on Monday, and testimony in the case got underway before U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly on Tuesday. Kelly, a Trump appointee, has overseen numerous Jan. 6 trials and handed out the longest Capitol riot sentence to date: 22 years in federal prison for former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.

Sparks’ co-defendant and former co-worker, Joseph Howe, took a plea deal last year, admitting that he