Three men who prepared for violence in advance of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, fought or confronted police protecting the U.S. Capitol and then celebrated by smoking inside the building were sentenced Friday to years in prison and ordered to forfeit money they had raised off their prosecution.“I felt like a human punching bag, receiving continuous blows from the rioters and being pinned up against the wall,” one of those officers said in a statement to the court.“This day in my life continues to be the worst I’ve ever had to live through and scars me to this day.”In explaining her sentence, Judge Dabney L. Friedrich said Sandlin, “put multiple officers’ lives at risk” and then “celebrated.”Afterward, Sandlin tried to erase evidence; prosecutors said they only got access to his video of the riot because Sandlin shared his laptop encryption key on a recorded jail call.Sandlin apologized to the officers, lawmakers and election officials, saying they “should never feel the threat of political violence.” He said he knew President Biden had won the 2020 election and no longer supported Donald Trump.“Professional journalists don’t throw smoke bombs to help a mob break into a secure government building,” Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell said."