Claims that Jan. 6 rioters are ‘political prisoners’ endure. Judges want to set the record straight

WASHINGTON — As he sentenced a North Carolina man to prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, a Republican-appointed judge issued a stark warning: efforts to portray the crowd of Donald Trump’s supporters as heroes and the violence that happened on January 6. 2021 pose a serious threat to the nation.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth condemned Trump and Republican allies’ portrayal of the Jan. 6 defendants as “political prisoners” and “hostages.” Lamberth also denounced attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the justice system for punishing rioters who broke the law when they invaded. the capital.

“In my 37 years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such lousy justifications of criminal activity have become mainstream,” Lamberth, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, wrote in a recent ruling. The judge added that he “fears that such destructive, misleading rhetoric could portend further danger to our country.”

As Trump offers possible pardons for rioters if he returns to the White House, judges overseeing the Jan. 6 more than 1,200 criminal cases in federal court in Washington are using their platform to try to set the record straight regarding distortions about an attack that was broadcast live. on television. A growing number of defendants appear to be embracing the rhetoric spread by Trump, making defiant speeches in court, repeating his false election claims and portraying themselves as patriots.

During a recent court hearing, Proud Boys member Marc Bru repeatedly insulted and interrupted the judge, who ultimately sentenced him to six years in prison. “You can give me a hundred years and I would do it all over again,” Bru said.

At least two other rioters shouted, “Trump has won!” in court after receiving their sentences.

Some people charged in the riot are pinning their hopes on a Trump victory in November.

Rachel Marie Powell, a Pennsylvania woman sentenced to nearly five years in prison for smashing a Capitol window, told a CNN reporter that the 2024 presidential election is “like life or death” for her. She said she believes she will get out of prison if Trump is elected.

The rhetoric resonates with the strangers who donate money to the defendant’s online campaigns on Jan. 6, but it doesn’t earn them any sympathy from the judges. Judges appointed by presidents of both political parties have described the riot as an affront to democracy and have repeatedly admonished suspects for failing to show genuine remorse or portraying themselves as victims.

For more than three years, judges have watched hours of video showing crowd members violently pushing past overwhelmed officers, shattering windows, attacking police with things like flagpoles and pepper spray and threatening violence against lawmakers. During court hearings, officers have described being beaten, threatened and afraid for their lives as they tried to defend the Capitol.

Before a Kentucky man with a lengthy criminal record was sentenced to 14 years in prison for attacking police with pepper spray and a chair, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta warned the man for “promoting the lie that what happened here in Washington DC happens, is unfair and unjust.”

“You are not a political prisoner,” Mehta, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, told Peter Schwartz. “You are not Alexei Navalny,” the judge said, referring to the jailed Russian opposition leader. “You are not someone who stands up against injustice, who fights against an autocratic regime. …You are someone who has decided to take the day into your own hands, just as you have spent much of your life using your hands against others.

Lamberth’s scathing comments came in the case of James Little, a North Carolina man who was not charged with any violence or destruction during the riot and only pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Lamberth did not name the people responsible for what the judge called “shameless” attempts to rewrite history. But Trump has closely aligned himself with the rioters during his presidential campaign. He has described them as “hostages,” called for their release from prison and promised to pardon many of them if he wins the White House in November.

About 750 people charged with federal crimes during the riot have pleaded guilty and more than 100 others have been convicted at trial. Many rioters were charged only with crimes akin to trespassing, while others faced serious crimes such as assault or seditious conspiracy. Of those convicted, about two-thirds have spent some time behind bars, with prison terms ranging from a few days intermittently to 22 years in prison, according to data collected by The Associated Press.

Lamberth originally sentenced Little in 2022 to 60 days behind bars, followed by three years of probation. But the federal appeals court in Washington sided with Little on appeal, ruling that he could not be sentenced to both prison and probation. When Little’s case returned to Lamberth District Court, the judge sentenced him to 150 days — with credit for time already served in jail and on probation — citing the man’s claims of persecution and attempts to cover up the attack of January 6 to downplay.

“Little cannot bring himself to admit that he did anything wrong, even though he came close today,” Judge Lamberth wrote. “So it is up to the court to tell the public the truth: Mr. Little’s actions, and the actions of others who broke the law on January 6, were wrong. The court does not expect that its comments can completely turn the tide of untruths. But I hope a little truth goes a long way.”

An attorney for Little declined to comment on Lamberth’s comments.

In other cases, judges have said their sentences should send a message when rioters have promoted the idea that they are being unfairly prosecuted for their political views. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper told Richard “Bigo” Barnett, the Arkansas man seen in a widely circulated photo leaning his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, that he seemed to enjoy the notoriety that he became one of the faces of the January 6 attack.

“You have made yourself one of the faces of J6, not just through that photo, but by using your platform and your fame to promote the misconception that you and other J6ers are somehow political prisoners being persecuted because of your beliefs, as opposed to your behavior on January 1. 6,” Cooper, an Obama appointee, told Barnett before sentencing him to more than four years in prison.

“So all those people who follow Bigo should know that the actions of January 6 cannot be repeated without serious consequences,” the judge said.

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Richer reported from Boston.