A man who attacked people on two separate occasions during the summer in Baltimore while holding a sign that expressed support for President Donald Trump must serve six years in prison.

Matthew Middleton, 34, of Hillen, pleaded guilty on Monday in Baltimore Circuit Court to two counts of second-degree assault and one count of possession of a dangerous weapon.

District Judge David B. Aldouby in September convicted Middleton at a bench trial and sentenced him to serve 15 years in prison.

Middleton appealed, which allowed him to have his case heard all over again.

Assistant State’s Attorneys Kelbey Egerland and Taylor Miller extended a plea agreement that called for Middleton to serve 15 years in prison, with nine years suspended, plus five years of supervised probation.

He must also undergo a mental health screening and complete any recommended treatment.

Here’s what Baltimore Police reported:

On July 6, a man approached Middleton, who was standing outside Red Emma’s bookstore and coffeehouse on Greenmount Avenue and East 32nd Street in Waverly dressed in all black, wearing a mask and sunglasses and holding a Trump sign.

The man snatched the sign and threw it on the ground. That’s when Middleton put the man in a chokehold and took him down.

Next, Middleton pulled out a bat and hit the man several times. The man then retrieved a knife from his waistband and stabbed Middleton in the left leg.

Middleton pepper-sprayed the man after creating some distance between them.

As he awaited trial in that attack, Middleton pepper-sprayed a woman and pointed what appeared to be a handgun at people who were filing out of Peabody Heights Brewery on East 30th and Barclay streets in Abell, which had been holding Butch Garden, a popular queer event that GRL PWR hosts.

Middleton told police that he had been standing on the sidewalk holding a sign that read, “Trump Vance make America great again.” He had been wearing a camouflage bucket hat, balaclava and goggles and reported that people heckled him.

When Officer John Vorhees asked, “Why does this keep happening?” Middleton replied, “People keep attacking me in this town.”

He added that he wanted to exercise his First Amendment rights and asked, “Why should they threaten me into silence?”

Police searched his backpack and found items including a pepper ball gun, an expandable baton, a crowbar and a fixed blade knife. In his right pocket, he also had two containers of pepper spray and a folding knife.

Daniel Mooney, Middleton’s attorney, said his client attended Centennial High School in Ellicott City and later obtained his GED diploma. He then earned some credits at Baltimore City Community College.

Middleton appeared in the Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse in a yellow jumpsuit and handcuffs and shackles.

He declined to make a statement before Circuit Judge Yvette M. Bryant imposed the sentence.