Insurrectionist refuses deal that would put him in jail for just 5 years — he could now get much more

Mark Ponder is accused of assaulting Washington, D.C. Metro Police officers using a flag pole, resulting in 12 charges. But during his court appearance on Monday, he refused to make a deal with prosecutors.

A March BuzzFeed report walked through Ponder's actions on Jan. 6, saying that after he allegedly attacked officers, he "was tackled to the ground outside the Capitol at around 2:49 p.m. by a group of Metropolitan Police Department officers." About 25 minutes later, "he was allowed to walk away because a police transport couldn't get through to the Capitol grounds and the officers who'd arrested him were ordered back to the riot to help with crowd control, according to court filings."

During his March court date, Ponder pleaded not guilty and after months of questions from prosecutors, Ponder still refuses to plead guilty. He was offered a deal that would have given him lower charges and put him in prison for 5-6 years.

Monday, Ponder officially rejected the felony plea deal that would have dropped 11 of the counts against him. He made it clear he'd prefer to go to trial on all 12 counts, where he could get a much longer time in prison.