Thomas Sibick

Like millions of Americans, Thomas was shocked by the sudden swing in vote counts on election night 2020 and the following day.  In the dead of night, six swing counties in which President Trump was ahead simultaneously stopped counting votes.  Early the next morning, the vote counts continued, but suddenly thousands of Biden ballots appeared, and Biden was comfortably in the lead in all six counties.  There has never been a satisfactory explanation.  It is well known that Democrats favor early voting, and Republicans tend to vote on election day; those “banked” Biden ballots should have been the first to be counted.

Responding to President Trump’s call to peacefully assemble on January 6^th, 2021, Thomas traveled to Washington, DC, to peacefully protest what they firmly believed to be a fraudulent 2020 election.  Following President Trump’s remarks to the assembled group of patriots near the White House, Thomas walked with the crowd toward the Capitol building. 

According to the DOJ, on Jan. 6, 2021, Thomas made his way onto the ground of the U.S. Capitol and into the crowd gathered on the West Plaza.  Here, he posted a “selfie” video on Instagram depicting himself in the crowd.  The video pans the crowd with the caption, “Wildest experience of my life!!”  Thomas then filmed himself screaming, “Just got tear-gassed, but we’re going, baby, we’re going!  We’re pushing forward now!” Video evidence shows that the Capitol Police started to use tear gas and pepper spray on the crowd, which instigated the mayhem. 

The DOJ states that a group of United States Capitol Police (USCP) and Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers had formed a police line at one of the two glass doorways on the Lower West Terrace that lead inside the Capitol to prevent a mob of rioters from entering.

At approximately 3:08 p.m., Thomas joined a crowd of rioters in this area who were pushing against the police line, entered the tunnel, and made his way to the front of the mob.  Thomas then left the crowd only to return a short while later.

At this time, the DOJ claims that around 3:15 p.m., Michael Fanone, an MPD officer at the front of the police line was pulled into the crowd of rioters.  Body-worn camera footage shows Thomas reaching toward Fanone.  Later, court documents say, that Thomas posed for a picture of himself holding and pointing to a USCP riot shield. 

Thomas was initially charged with Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers; Theft; and a second charge of Theft. 

Thomas returned the stolen badge to federal authorities after having taking it home with him and burying it in his backyard in Buffalo. The radio was never recovered.

Following his arrest, Thomas spent eight months behind bars but was released on home confinement in October 2021, after his lawyer, Steven Brennwald, pressed the judge to free him while his case played out.

Thomas’ attorney asked for a sentence of home confinement, writing in court papers that a mental health misdiagnosis resulted in his client taking medication on January 6 that, “severely and negatively impacted him.”  Thomas’ attorney said, unlike other rioters, his client did not physically assault Fanone, and their interaction was limited to Thomas grabbing Fanone’s radio and badge.

“Mr. Sibick has made a remarkable change in his life since he received his correct mental health diagnosis and has begun cognitive behavioral therapy,” Brennwald wrote. “Because he sees January 6 for what it was, he is not a threat to re-offend in the future.”

On July 28, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson presided over a sentencing hearing in Washington, DC.  In a letter to the judge submitted prior to the sentencing, Thomas called the trauma Officer Fanone experienced “undeniably sickening” and said he takes full responsibility for his “uncivilized display of reckless behavior.”

“It was an attack on the institutions of our democracy and not as some would make you believe legitimate political discourse. The attack was far from peaceful, my actions played a role that will follow me for the rest of my life,” Thomas wrote.

But former MPD Police Officer Michael Fanone attended the hearing to speak of how much January 6 changed him.  Visibly angry throughout the hearing, Fanone made clear that the attack he suffered that day, and the heart attack and brain injury that resulted, ended his law enforcement career.  He urged Judge Jackson to show Thomas little mercy.

Court transcripts show that the sentencing hearing devolved into a dramatic three-hour proceeding that featured a tear-filled apology from Thomas, an obscenity-laced diatribe from Fanone and what appeared to be taunts between Fanone and Sibick’s father.

Appearing before the judge, Thomas struggled through tears to read a letter that explained why he deserved a lesser sentence – or, as his lawyer argued in court papers, no additional time at all behind bars. But several times and in several ways, Thomas turned away from his letter to address Fanone directly.

“Officer Fanone, I sincerely regret what I did,” Thomas said at one point. “I really do.”

Fanone replied with icy stares as Thomas tried to explain what he himself sees as inexplicable.

“I still wonder why I did it,” Thomas said. “I really do.”

Meanwhile, Thomas’ lawyer argued that his client did it because he wasn’t healthy.  Long misdiagnosed with attention deficit disorder, Thomas was on the maximum legal dose of Adderall, said the lawyer. Incarcerated in D.C. after his arrest, Thomas saw another doctor who correctly diagnosed him as suffering from bipolar disorder. And Adderall, lawyer Brennwald said, makes bipolar people manic.

Now, though, Thomas is properly medicated and managing his mental illness, Brennwald said.  Since late 2021 when the judge allowed him to leave jail and live at home while awaiting the outcome of his legal case, Thomas has been working full time. In addition, his father, Eugene Sibick, said his son met a woman online and eventually married her during his 21 months of home confinement.

Noting the progress he has made and pleading to not be sentenced to prison, Thomas told the judge: “Please understand my struggles … The consequences of incarceration would be devastating.”

But earlier in the hearing, Officer Fanone, acting as a victim, made it clear that the consequences of January 6 were devastating to him.

“My radio was my lifeline,” he said. “It was all I had in those moments to call for help. It was taken from me to be used as a trophy.”  Given what he (Thomas) did, “I ask you to ignore his inevitable pleas for mercy,” Fanone told the judge. “On Jan. 6, he and his cohorts gave me none.”

Seething with anger, Fanone also noted that Thomas lied about his actions on January 6 before his arrest and got to await his legal case at home, rather than in jail.  Ending his comments by labeling Thomas, “an entitled a—hole,” Fanone stormed away from the judge toward the back of the courtroom, winking at the Sibick family as he passed by.  Winking at the Sibicks suggest that Officer Fanone’s comments were an act. 

Returning to the courtroom about 40 minutes later, Judge Jackson launched into an hourlong presentation in which she described January 6 insurrection and Thomas’ part in it in detail.

Jackson made clear that she didn’t make much of the defense’s argument that Thomas’ mental health struggles led to his actions on January 6. While the defense presented a letter from a doctor reiterating that argument, the judge noted that that doctor was Thomas’ aunt.

“There’s an absence of even a shred of expert testimony” that attributes Thomas’ actions to his misdiagnosis and improper prescription, Jackson said.

Jackson said she also had to take into account the sentences that other January 6 defendants received, which, in many cases she mentioned, were several years long.

The prosecution had argued for a sentence of 71 months in prison for Thomas, saying he deserved no less. “To grab Officer Fanone’s badge and radio was particularly sinister,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly L. Paschall said.

In the end, Judge Jackson sentenced Thomas to 50 months on a felony assault charge, 50 months on a felony charge of resisting or impeding a police officer charge and 12 months on a misdemeanor theft charge.  Jackson ordered those terms to be served concurrently, making his total term 50 months.  She also ordered 36 months of supervised release and $7,500 in restitution for the missing radio. 

The sentence rocked the Sibick family. Thomas’ father, Eugene Sibick held his head in his hands while his wife, Carol, wept openly. Meanwhile, Sibick’s three brothers and his new wife sat stone-faced nearby.

The mainstream media and some federal officials routinely label anyone associated with the January 6^th protest as a “domestic terrorist” or “insurrectionist” even though the term “domestic terrorist” is not defined in the Patriot Act.  This allows them to destroy Constitutional rights, such as a speedy trial.  Likewise, no one associated with January 6^th has ever been charged with, let alone convicted of, insurrection.