N.J. construction worker who shoved cop, lit up a cigar during Capitol riot sentenced to prison

A New Jersey construction worker who lit up a cigar, then attempted to shove a police officer off a wall during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a half in prison.

Salvatore Vassallo, 60, of Toms River, apologized for his actions, telling a federal judge in Washington that he couldn’t explain what came over him when he grabbed the head and neck of Capitol Officer Mark Eveland and pushed during the riot that erupted during the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of assaulting an officer during a civil disorder in May.

“Mr. Vassallo, to this day, doesn’t know why he assaulted Officer Eveland but believes it was an impulse to help other rioters who were being struck by batons and shields,” his lawyer, Ronald Ricci, said in court filings in the run-up to Wednesday’s hearing in Washington before U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

To date, more than 20 New Jersey residents have been sentenced for playing a role in the historic attack, which left scores of officers injured, caused nearly $3 million in damage, and threatened the peaceful transfer of presidential power.

But unlike many of the nearly 1,200 people prosecuted as part of the investigation into the riot, Vassallo, who pleaded guilty in May, did not incriminate himself by posting photos, videos or vitriolic messages to social media implicating himself in the attack.

The first evidence prosecutors were able to unearth of Vassallo’s participation in the fighting stemmed from videos captured just before 4 p.m. on the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace.

By that time, officers were using tear gas and batons on rioters to forcibly remove them from the building.

» READ MORE: South Jersey father and son sentenced to probation for role in Capitol riot

Vassallo twice ignored officers’ orders to leave the area — in one instance climbing up a wall to get closer to the building after Capitol police had instructed him to leave.

Roughly 45 minutes later, his assault on Eveland was caught on video.

“Mr. Vassallo became extremely upset after witnessing what he believed at the time to be uncalled for actions against some protesters who were acting peacefully at the rally but were still being injured as the police tried to stop the protest,” said Ricci, the defense lawyer.

Eveland did not fall off the ledge and was not significantly injured by the attack.

» READ MORE: A Philly police contractor was let go for allegedly attacking cops during Jan. 6 Capitol riot

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra F. Foster argued Wednesday that the lack of injury did not diminish the seriousness of Vassallo’s actions.

She highlighted a photo of Vassallo posing in Washington with members of the Proud Boys — an antigovernment, right-wing group whose top leaders have been convicted of sedition for organizing aspects of the violence that unfolded Jan. 6 — and noted that he’d been convicted of disorderly conduct stemming from a 1986 episode in which he’d shoved a police officer during a fight.

“Given this background, he should have known better than to join a violent, riotous mob and physically assault a police officer,” she said. “Vassallo’s criminal conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, was the epitome of disrespect for the law.”

» READ MORE: South Jersey pickup artist and ‘relationship strategist’ gets four years in Capitol riot case

Ricci, however, maintained that his client has no links to the Proud Boys and learned of their reputation only in news coverage of the Jan. 6 riot.

“Salvatore Vassallo is a good person who got caught up in a bad situation and acted very poorly during that bad situation,” he told the judge. He “acted out of character on Jan. 6 and understands that there will be consequences.”

In addition to the prison term, Berman Jackson ordered Vassallo to serve three years’ probation and pay $5,000 in restitution and fines.