An Iraq veteran was jailed for two years and two months on Wednesday for his role in the summer riots.
Lee Marshall, 39, shoulder-barged a female officer in order to move the police line back and retrieve his phone. He had lost it when confronting officers during widespread disorder in Rotherham, Sheffield crown court heard.
He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.
Chris Aspinall, defending Marshall, said he attended the protest "because he did have strong feelings that unregulated and uncontrolled immigration was a problem".
READ MORE: UK riots: Thug, 18, seen celebrating after hitting cop with rock is put behind bars
But he added that he "played no part in any violence or racial chanting".
Marshall, of Princess Street, Barnsley, has lost his job as a driver with Stagecoach, his house, contact with his teenage son, and the ability to visit his partner in the US due to his prison term.
Her Honour Judge Sarah Wright, described his behaviour as 'incredibly disappointing' given his military record. "You were told to retreat, you did not do so," she told him. "You participated in an incident which involved widespread acts of violence and disorder."
More than 45 men have so far been jailed in connection with the Rotherham riot.
READ MORE: UK riots: Thug, 18, seen celebrating after hitting cop with rock is put behind bars
