WASHINGTON — Over the past four years, federal court judges in Washington have sentenced hundreds of rioters The US Capitol was attacked in an unprecedented attack on national democracy. On the eve of the next presidential election, some of these judges fear another outbreak of political violence.
Not long ago sentencing a rebel to prisonU.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays Americans accept the outcome of next month’s election. But the veteran judge expressed concern that Donald Trump and his allies are spreading the same conspiracy theory that fueled the mob riots on January 6, 2021.
“That sore loser is saying the same things he said before,” Walton said earlier this month, without mentioning the Republican presidential nominee by name. “The troops are getting bored again, so if they don’t get what they want, it’s not inconceivable that we will experience the same situation again. And who knows? It could be worse.”
Walton, the running mate of President George W. Bush, is not alone. Other judges said the political climate was right for another attack on the Capitol that injured more than 100 police officers. As election day approaches, judges often stress the need to send a message beyond their courts that political violence cannot be tolerated.
“It scares me to think what’s going to happen if nobody on either side is happy with the results of the election,” Judge Jia Cobb, Joe Biden’s running mate, said at a hearing last month. Four rioters in the Capitol.
Judge Rudolph Contreras lamented the potential for more politically motivated violence when he sentenced a Colorado man who Jeffrey SabolThey helped other rioters turn a policeman into the mob. Sabol told FBI agents that “the call to battle was announced” and that he “answered the call because he was a patriotic warrior.”
“It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine that a similar call will come out in the coming months, and the court would be concerned whether Mr. Sabol would respond to that call in the same way,” said Contreras, President Barack Obama. In March, before Sabol was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
Trump’s distortion of the January 6 attack was a The basis of his bid to win back the White House. The former president has denied any responsibility for the crimes of supporters who smashed windows, attacked police and sent lawmakers into hiding as they rallied to ensure President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
Trump has vowed to pardon the rioters, who he calls “patriots” and “hostages,” if he wins in November. And he said that he will accept the results of the upcoming elections only if they are “free and fair”, recalling the doubts. his baseless claims in 2020
Judges have used the platform they have on the bench several times to denounce the efforts to downplay the violence on January 6 and to consider the riots as political prisoners. And some have expressed concern about what that rhetoric means for the future of the country and its democracy.
“We’re in a real difficult time in our country, and I hope we survive,” Walton said this month as he chastised a Tennessee nurse who used a pair of medical scissors to break a glass door in the Capitol.
“I have a young daughter, I have a young grandson, and I wish America could be there for them and be as good to them as it is to me,” he added. “But I don’t. I don’t know if we can survive with the mentality we had that day.”
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the January 6 siege, which disrupted the peaceful transfer of presidential power for the first time in the nation’s history. More than 1,000 incidents have been tried and punished. About 650 of them received prison terms starting from a few days 22 years.
Justice Department prosecutors have argued in many cases that prison terms are necessary to prevent convicted Capitol rioters from turning to more politically motivated violence.
“With the 2024 presidential election approaching and many loud voices in the media and online continuing to sow discord and mistrust, the possibility of a repeat of January 6 is getting worse,” prosecutors have repeatedly warned in court filings.
Prosecutors say defendants who show little or no remorse for their actions on January 6 can break the law again. Some rebels seem to be proud of their crimes.
The The first rioter entered the Capitol “If I get the chance, I’ll go again.” A man from Washington state who attacked the Capitol with members of the extremist group Proud Boys he told a judge“You gave me 100 years and I would do it again.” A nurse from Kentucky joined the riot he told a television interviewer “That he would do it again tomorrow.”
A Colorado woman as she is known to her social media followers “J6 prayer grandmother” he avoided jail time in August when a magistrate judge convicted him of disorderly conduct and failure to appear on Capitol grounds. Rebecca Lavrenz told the judge that God, not Trump, brought her to Washington on January 6.
“And he promised to do it all over again,” said prosecutor Terence Parker.
The prosecutor asked for 10 months in prison. After the April trial, Lavrenz launched a “media blitz” to defend the mob, spread misinformation, undermine confidence in the courts and boost his celebrity in a community that believes January 6 was “a good day for this country.” he said
Magistrate Zia Faruqui sentenced Lavrenz to six months in prison and fined him $103,000, stressing the need to “turn down the volume” before the next election.
“These outside influences, people who are tearing our country apart, will not help you,” Faruqui told him.
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Associated Press Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
