A 35-year-old man from Kannapolis, North Carolina, is heading to prison for over three years after assaulting police officers and leading rioters during the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Brett Alan Rotella, who also goes by Brett Ostrander, was found guilty by a jury of obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder and assaulting police officers. U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss sentenced him to 38 months in prison, followed by three years of probation, and ordered him to pay a $2,000 fine.
According to court documents, Rotella stood out during the chaos by wearing a red skull cap and a sleeveless black puffy jacket that exposed his tattooed arms. He carried a pole with two flags on it, making him easy to spot in the crowd.
Rotella entered the West Plaza of the Capitol around 2:30 p.m. while Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence were working to certify the 2020 presidential election results, officially declaring Joe Biden as the winner. The FBI says Rotella picked up a metal police barrier and threw it at an officer, yelling profanities. He also shouted things like, “We just want things to be right” and “Something has to happen or we’re all screwed.”
Not long after, Rotella led a group of rioters up the southwest stairs of the Capitol, chasing retreating police officers. At times, he stopped the group by raising his fist and shouting “hold,” before continuing to push forward. He even led the group onto the Inauguration stage. As police fired rubber bullets to hold the crowd back, Rotella kept advancing.
When officers barricaded themselves inside the Capitol by shutting two sets of doors, the mob, including Rotella, broke through. They smashed the glass on one set of doors, and Rotella reached inside to unlock it. This allowed rioters to get into the building and clash with police. Prosecutors say Rotella used his body weight to shove against the police line, shouting threats like, “You want to hit me? I’ll mess you up!”
Even after being forced out of the building, Rotella didn’t stop. About an hour later, he joined the mob outside the west tunnel of the Capitol, yelling “heave ho” and counting down to help coordinate attacks on officers. He also helped carry a ladder to the front lines of the chaos.
The FBI later identified Rotella, and in July 2023, agents began keeping an eye on him near his home in Kannapolis, a suburb of Charlotte. Surveillance footage from a local grocery store matched images of Rotella at the Capitol, and phone data confirmed he was in the area during the riot. Agents arrested him on August 29, 2023.
Prosecutors had pushed for a harsher sentence, recommending five years in prison. In their memo, they said Rotella’s actions—especially his leadership in rallying others to storm the Capitol—showed a clear disregard for the law. They pointed out the seriousness of his crimes and noted that his behavior didn’t match his responsibilities as a father of three children, ages 1, 5, and 10, or his job as a security worker at a strip club.
In court, the government argued that Rotella chose to ignore his duties as a parent and worker when he joined the violent events of January 6, assaulting officers and encouraging others to do the same.
