NEW YORK CITY — A former NYPD cop who shook a tambourine and refused to leave the U.S. Capitol as the Jan. 6 riots unfolded is now a convicted felon.
Jurors found Sara Carpenter, 53, of Queens, guilty Thursday of two felonies connected to her attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s win, as well as five misdemeanors.
Images of Carpenter shaking a tambourine inside the Capitol became well-known after the insurrection, and helped federal officials track her down, authorities said.
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“I’m a f—ing animal,” Carpenter screamed during the chaos in the Capitol, prosecutors said.
Beyond yelling expletives and shaking a tambourine, Carpenter stood accused of serious crimes alongside other members of a crowd who believed former President Donald Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election.
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Prosecutors said she confronted cops inside the Capitol, pushed against them and slapped their arms as they tried to stop her from going even farther inside.
Carpenter remained inside the Capitol for 34 minutes before she left with a declaration that made her intentions clear, prosecutors said.
“The breach was made,” she said, according to authorities said. “It needs to calm down now. Congress needs to come out. They need to certify Trump as president. This is our house.”
Carpenter, who lives in Richmond Hill, is one of several New York City dwellers who were arrested in connection to the Jan. 6 riots.
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Another former NYPD officer — Thomas Webster, 56 — in September received the longest sentence yet for a rioter in the pro-Trump attack on the Capitol: 10 years.
Carpenter is scheduled for sentencing on July 14.
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