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Incident is sheriff fred abdullah. >> we didn't hit him, we didn't strike him, nothing like that. i knew and i could just imagine the pain that he was going through, the hurt. >> i have done a lot of sentencing hearings, and i have had family members be terribly upset and terribly angry, but i had never seen a physical altercation between a victim's family member and the defendant. i was terrified for him that he might get hurt as the officers tried to subdue him. and my honest thought was that he might try to kill the defendant. >> others in the courtroom fear the same thing. >> i thought tha...

Different socioeconomic statuses, and you have a racial divide, and that really played out in this particular case. >> the judge orders all family members out of the courtroom. swett is taken to the sheriff's office and released after 45 minutes. >> we have charged mr. swett with possibly disorderly conduct in a courtroom. probably could have. would it be the wise thing to do? no. and, like i said, i would have done the same thing, and i'm sure a lot of fathers out there would have done the same thing. >> the judge sentences clifford to 33 years to life in prison. >> you couldn't see this with...

Altercation between a victim's family member and the defendant. i was terrified for him that he might get hurt as the officers tried to subdue him. and my honest thought was that he might try to kill the defendant. >> others in the courtroom fear the same thing. >> i thought that this was going to be a disaster, and it was. i saw mr. swett's hand moving to try to get to the sheriff's weapon. the sheriff was able to restrain him, and he did not get his hand on the sheriff's weapon, which was holstered. >> clifford can't defend himself. he's handcuffed and remains silent during the struggle. >> ...

Years will be full of immense pain and torture for you. >> the father takes his turn, giving his victim impact statement. michael swett walks to the witness stand with a photo of his son. >> and then he got closer, and he was standing at the table. he held that picture right in front of the defendant, in front of antonio clifford, and said, do you know this face? >> and then swett's pent-up anger suddenly comes bursting out. >> it was a moment of just jaw-dropping, oh, my gosh, what do we do? >> shelby zorotney is an anchor for nbc in steubenville, ohio. she's covering the sentencing that day,...

Clifford. family members are giving victim impact statements before clifford's sentencing. >> you have 33 years that will be spent behind bars. i'm sorry, but i pray that those years will be full of immense pain and torture for you. >> the father takes his turn, giving his victim impact statement. michael swett walks to the witness stand with a photo of his son. >> and then he got closer, and he was standing at the table. he held that picture right in front of the defendant, in front of antonio clifford, and said, do you know this face? >> and then swett's pent-up anger suddenly comes bursting...