WASHINGTON — A Williamsburg man who pleaded guilty to a felony count of assaulting police with a dangerous weapon for attacking officers with a stick during the January 6 Capitol riot will spend over four years in prison.
Jonathan Gennaro Mellis was sentenced to 51 months in prison, according to court documents from Dec. 20, 2023.
Mellis was arrested in February 2021 and charged with multiple felony counts of assault, obstruction of an official proceeding, and civil disorder. According to charging documents, body-worn camera (BWC) footage showed Mellis, also known as "Jon Gennaro," attacking police with a stick near the entrance to the Lower West Terrace Tunnel.
"Mellis can be heard saying, 'Knock their masks off,' before the BWC shows Mellis' hand – wielding the stick – come over the top of the first individual, striking at the officers who were protecting the entryway to the Capitol Building," an FBI agent wrote in a statement of facts filed in the case. "Another video retrieved by law enforcement of that altercation clearly shows Mellis' actions, and even further captures Mellis repeatedly striking and making stabbing movements towards the officers with the weapon in his hand. Mellis appears to be making at contact or attempting to strike the officers’ necks between their helmets and body-armor where they are not protected."
Other portions of the criminal complaint detail some of Mellis' online activity. In various Facebook posts, he shared images and boasted about his actions on that day. In one of the posts, he said "storming the castle… the world heard us." In another Facebook comment, he said Black Lives Matter and antifa had no part in the insurrection, saying "we take full responsibility."
The criminal complaint revealed two people who know Mellis personally turned him in. They provided law enforcement with several images of Krask at the Capitol.
Mellis pleaded guilty to one count of "assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon" back in June of 2023.
After completing his sentence, Mellis will be on supervised release for an additional 36 months. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $20,000 and an additional $2,000 in restitution to the Architect of the Capitol.
WUSA 9 News contributed to this report.