51°
Alexander Contompasis, age 39, of Albany, was sentenced to an aggregate term of 20 years behind bars Thursday, Nov. 17, in Albany County Supreme Court.
It followed his October 2022 jury conviction on multiple violent felonies, including first-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Prosecutors said Contompasis showed up to the East Capitol Park on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, where nearly three dozen Trump supporters had gathered to protest Congress certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden.
It was also the same day the New York Legislature opened its 2021 season.
At around 12:15 p.m., surveillance footage captured a fight break out between several members of the right-wing Proud Boys and counter-protesters from the left-wing Antifa movement who had gathered nearby and were vocally antagonizing them.
At some point during the melee, prosecutors said Contompasis stabbed two people, seriously injuring one victim.
Video then showed him fleeing as Albany Police arrived on scene.
Both victims were taken to the hospital, where the first victim was treated for an eviscerated bowel, the Albany Times Union reports.
During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, acting Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough blasted Contompasis, saying he went to the Capitol “ready, willing, and able” to enact violence and that “toxicity in the body politic” had fueled his actions, the outlet reports.
"That's exactly what the defendant did. He violently, brutally stabbed political opponents of his -- one of whom he eviscerated," the Times Union quoted McDonough as saying.
"This wasn't just a simple stab or an accidental stab or a 'poke' as the defendant attempted to describe it in his testimony. These were violent knife attacks.”
In addition to his prison term, Contompasis was ordered to complete five years of post-release supervision.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hyde Park and receive free news updates.
