WASHINGTON (AP) – Over the past four years, federal judges in Washington have punished hundreds of rioters. stormed the US Capitol It is an unprecedented attack on the country’s democracy. With the next presidential election just around the corner, some judges are concerned that political violence could flare up again.
Until a while ago sentence rioters to prisonU.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays that the American people will accept the results of next month’s election. But the veteran judge expressed concern that Donald Trump and his supporters are promoting the same types of conspiracy theories that fueled the Jan. 6, 2021, mob violence.
“That loser is saying the same thing he’s been saying before,” Walton said earlier this month, without mentioning the Republican presidential nominee by name. “He’s raking up troops again, so if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s not inconceivable that we’ll go through the same situation again. And who knows? It will get even worse. There is a possibility.”
Mr. Walton, a candidate for President George W. Bush, is not alone. Other justices said the political climate was ripe for another attack like the one that injured more than 100 police officers at the Capitol. As voting day approaches, judges have frequently emphasized the need to send a message beyond the courtroom that political violence is unacceptable.
“It’s scary to think what could happen if someone on either side is not satisfied with the outcome of the election,” Judge Gia Cobb, a candidate for President Joe Biden, said at a sentencing hearing last month. Four rioters at the Capitol.
Judge Rudolph Contreras lamented the possibility of more politically motivated violence as he sentenced the Colorado man. Jeffrey Sabolother rioters helped drag the police officer into the mob. Sabol later told FBI agents that “a call to action was announced” and that he “answered the call because I was a patriotic fighter.”
“It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine a similar summons coming in the coming months,” said Contreras, a Barack Obama presidential candidate. I will.” Parade before Sabol was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
President Trump’s distortion of the January 6 attack The basis of his efforts to take back the White House. The former president criticized the crimes of his supporters who broke windows, assaulted police officers and forced lawmakers to flee as they met to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. denied responsibility.
President Trump has vowed to pardon the rioters if he wins in November, calling them “patriots” and “hostages.” He then said he would only accept the results if the next election was “free and fair”, raising questions such as: his baseless claims In 2020.
Judges have used their courtroom platforms to downplay the violence of January 6 and repeatedly denounce efforts to turn rioters into political prisoners. And some have expressed concern about what such rhetoric means for the future of the country and its democracy.
“Our country is going through some really tough times, and I hope we can get through this,” Walton said earlier this month in sentencing a Tennessee nurse who used medical scissors to break down a glass door at the Capitol. “I’m doing it,” he said.
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“I have a young daughter, I have young grandchildren, and I want America to be there for them and be as good to them as they have been to me,” he added. “But I don’t know if we can continue to have the same mentality that we had that day.”
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 siege that disrupted the first peaceful transfer of presidential power in the nation’s history. More than 1,000 rioters were convicted and sentenced. Approximately 650 of them received prison sentences ranging from a few days to a few days. 22 years.
Justice Department prosecutors have argued in a number of cases that prison terms are necessary to deter politically motivated violence by convicted Capitol rioters.
“As the 2024 presidential election approaches and many loud voices in the media and online continue to sow discord and distrust, the possibility of a repeat of January 6 looms eerily close,” prosecutors wrote in court. We have repeatedly warned in our submissions to
Prosecutors have argued that the defendant, who has shown little or no remorse for his actions on January 6, could break the law again. Some members of the mob are proud of their crimes.
of The first mob to invade the Capitol I texted my mother and said, “If I have a chance, I’ll go again.” The Washington state man who stormed the Capitol with members of the Proud Boys extremist group told the judge“Give me 100 years and I’ll do it again.” Kentucky nurse who participated in the riot told a TV interviewer She said, “I’ll do the same thing tomorrow.”
A Colorado woman known to her social media followers as “. “J6 Praying Grandma” In August, a magistrate judge found him guilty of disorderly conduct and trespassing on Capitol grounds, avoiding a prison sentence. Rebecca Labrenz told the judge that it was God, not Trump, who led her to Washington on January 6th.
“And she almost promised to do it all over again,” said prosecutor Terrence Parker.
Prosecutors had asked for a 10-month prison sentence. After being found guilty at trial in April, Mr. Lavrenz defended the mob, spread misinformation, undermined trust in the court, and believed that January 6 was “a good day for this country.” Parker said they conducted a “media blitz” to increase their visibility within the community they live in. Said.
Judge Zia Faruqi sentenced Mr. Lavrenz to six months of home confinement and fined him $103,000, stressing the need to “cut back” before the next election.
“Outside influences, people who are tearing our country apart, they are not going to help you,” Faruqui told her.
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Associated Press writer Alana Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
