DaSilva Sentenced for Jan. 6 Capitol Breach Assault

Washington – A Texas man was handed a 28-month prison sentence today in the District of Columbia for his violent role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Matthew DaSilva, 51, of Lavon, Texas, faced U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols for charges stemming from the chaos that disrupted the joint session of Congress convened to count electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election.

DaSilva was found guilty of felony charges of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, along with a misdemeanor offense of act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. The judge’s stern sentence came after DaSilva was caught on police CCTV footage engaging in a group ‘heave-ho’ maneuver aimed at dislodging law enforcement from their position at the Lower West Terrace Tunnel entrance.

The incident escalated when DaSilva, wielding a flagpole and waving a large blue flag, was spotted forcibly pushing against an officer’s shield and subsequently swatting away an officer’s arm as he tried to deploy pepper spray. Court documents also cite further physical contact between DaSilva and law enforcement officers.

Prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, this case is part of a broader investigation that has led to the arrest of over 1,387 individuals across nearly all 50 states since the breach. The FBI’s Washington and Dallas Field Offices, along with the Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Capitol Police, contributed significantly to the investigation.

For those with information on Jan. 6-related crimes, call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit tips.fbi.gov to aid ongoing investigations into the tumultuous events of that day.