Capitol Insurrection / rebellion thread

[The Stormbringer]

Missed a few things from this 300+ page thread? We have a summary to all the people charged, arrested, tried and/or convicted, and there's more than 1,000 people on it.

Not sure why Axios decided that the last few days of Trump threatening government officials. Huh. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

The wheels of justice turn so god damn slow, but this is certainly nice to see. Hopefully the numbers keep going up, and they actually start coming after people who incited or supported this shit, including people still in-office now.

[Edge-]

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florid...on-tampa-case/

Jeremy Brown, the retired U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant ensnared in a federal investigation of the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, received a sentence of seven years in federal prison Friday for having two illegal guns, a set of hand grenades and a classified military document at his Tampa home.

Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew also ordered Brown to complete three years of supervision upon his release, with a condition that he undergo an evaluation for mental health treatment.

The prison sentence, which totaled 87 months, came after the judge spoke of Brown’s 20 years of service as Green Beret, but also his actions since his retirement, which she said demonstrated Brown put himself above the law.

“You’ve accepted no responsibility for what you’ve done in this case,” Bucklew said. “And you are defiant to the end.”

Clad in baggy orange pants and an orange jail shirt, Brown addressed the judge for close to 15 minutes before he was sentenced. In lofty rhetoric that detailed his military background and referenced the words of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, the Declaration of Independence and the judge’s own legal career, Brown accused the government of deceiving the court and targeting him.

“My service cannot be tarnished by lesser men,” he said, looking at the prosecutors.

He mentioned his connection to Jan. 6, 2021, suggesting the events of that day were orchestrated by the FBI.

“The truth will come out,” he said of his case.

Ah yes, just a bunch of tourists. And not apparently violent ex-military dudes with illegal guns, hand grenades, and classified military documents at home..

[Taifuu]

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florid...on-tampa-case/



Ah yes, just a bunch of tourists. And not apparently violent ex-military dudes with illegal guns, hand grenades, and classified military documents at home..

This must be one of those "very fine people" that I hear exist on both sides.

[bladeXcrasher]

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florid...on-tampa-case/



Ah yes, just a bunch of tourists. And not apparently violent ex-military dudes with illegal guns, hand grenades, and classified military documents at home..

Hope it was all worth it for him. Guy shouldn't receive a dime of retirement/disability money as well as any of the privileges that come from military retirement for the rest of his miserable life.

[Poopymonster]

Hope it was all worth it for him. Guy shouldn't receive a dime of retirement/disability money as well as any of the privileges that come from military retirement for the rest of his miserable life.

They can always call him back THEN try him in military court.

[postman1782]

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florid...on-tampa-case/



Ah yes, just a bunch of tourists. And not apparently violent ex-military dudes with illegal guns, hand grenades, and classified military documents at home..

He should have gotten 20 years alone just for the grenades.

[Breccia]

Prosecution seeks sixteen-year sentence for 25-year-old boomer Patrick McCaughey III, who was found guilty for seven felonies and two misdemeanors.

Presumably, the two misdemeanors were the violent, physical assault of an on-duty Capitol police officer, and the seven felonies were for stealing office supplies.

In one of the most recognizable moments of the day, the trapped officer screamed out in pain, as he was disarmed and attacked by other rioters and the mob engaged in a heave-ho movement in an effort to force its way through the lower west terrace tunnel.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall noted in a sentencing memorandum filed on Friday that McCaughey’s actions were particularly “egregious and protracted,” compared to that of the other rioters he stood trial with.

“The actions taken by this defendant were heinous, and his sentence should reflect that,” Paschall wrote.

“The defendant’s actions on January 6 show an absolute disregard for the rule of law coupled with a willingness to incite and engage in violence,” she added in Friday’s filing. “The nature and circumstances of this defendant’s crimes weigh heavily towards a significant term of incarceration.”

I read the original article in Politico and also the prosecution's filed sentencing memorandum. Oddly enough, they do mention the mass assault by Mr. The Third and his two co-defendants, a 28-year-old boomer and a 63-year-old boomer, but neither of them mention swiping ball-point pens or Sharpees. I was really expecting Sharpees, considering how fond Trump is of them.

[Fugus]

Prosecution seeks sixteen-year sentence for 25-year-old boomer Patrick McCaughey III, who was found guilty for seven felonies and two misdemeanors.

Presumably, the two misdemeanors were the violent, physical assault of an on-duty Capitol police officer, and the seven felonies were for stealing office supplies.



I read the original article in Politico and also the prosecution's filed sentencing memorandum. Oddly enough, they do mention the mass assault by Mr. The Third and his two co-defendants, a 28-year-old boomer and a 63-year-old boomer, but neither of them mention swiping ball-point pens or Sharpees. I was really expecting Sharpees, considering how fond Trump is of them.

Ok, that name worried me for a second. I knew I guy growing up named Kevin McCulley and has a brother named Patrick. Misread that and got worried for a second.

Kevin is a Sargent in the military but last I talked to him anything to the left of the Tea Party was evil socialism and his brother Patrick wasn't much better going with the "Do you really believe that?" approach to facts regardless of the evidence but would believe all the messed up delusions outright without any evidence at all.

[Breccia]

Friday, a federal court handed down a ruling that has significant, arguably massive, implications.

A federal appeals court sided Friday with the Justice Department in a case that could have upended hundreds of charges brought in the Capitol riot investigation.

The decision, however, leaves open the possibility of further challenges to the charge of obstruction of Congress, which has been brought against more than 300 defendants in the massive federal prosecutions following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

The Justice Department has argued that the offense — punishing anyone who “corruptly” obstructs or impedes an “official proceeding” — clearly fits the conduct of the rioters who halted Congress’ certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory.

In a 2-1 ruling, a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said a lower court judge was wrong in dismissing the charge in three cases in which the judge concluded it didn’t cover the defendants’ conduct. Those defendants may ask the full appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.

The charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, which carries up to 20 years behind bars, is among the most widely used felony charges in the Jan. 6 cases. It has been brought against extremists accused of plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden as well as in dozens of less serious cases.

As noted, some judges disagree: the one who made the original ruling, for example. It could get to SCOTUS.

At heart is, apparently, the word "corrupt".

The appeals court’s ruling suggests more legal wrangling over the law is likely. While he sided with Pan in reversing Nichols’ decision, Judge Justin Walker said the court was wrong to not address what the law means by “corruptly.”

Walker, another Trump appointee, said “corruptly” means defendants are guilty only if they act to “procure an unlawful benefit” for themselves or someone else. He used the example of a rioter who joined the riot because “he was angry at the nation’s elites” and saw it as an “opportunity to display his bravado.”

“Though likely guilty of other crimes, he did not act ‘corruptly’” under the law ”because he did not intend to procure a benefit by obstructing the Electoral College vote count,” he wrote.

“That rioter may not be representative of most rioters on January 6th. But in every case, the Government will need to prove at trial whether each defendant acted ‘corruptly’ in a way that my hypothetical rioter did not,” he wrote.

So, this may have to vary defendant by defendant. Simply put, a lot of them were there to stop the election counting process -- and, yes, putting Trump in the White House despite losing the election would count as a benefit. I don't think a single murderous insurrectionist said "well I don't want Trump in charge, but the election was rigged so I'll disrupt the event at great cost to myself".

But, if some can prove that their only goal really was stealing office supplies, they'll walk on obstruction.

So what makes this massive?

Jan. 6 Ruling is 'Gift' For Jack Smith's Trump Case: Ex-Asst. US Attorney

Weissmann said the ruling could also impact Smith's investigation into Trump. He said the decision would signal to Smith that the use of the obstruction charge is "rock solid" in these cases, as he may weigh using this charge against the former president.

"This is really a gift for Jack Smith. Because as good as it is for the Washington, D.C. prosecutors who have hundreds of pending cases who want to know that this is a charge they can continue charging, Jack Smith is going to be thinking about this obstruction charge with respect for the former president," he said. "And there is nothing better for Jack Smith to know that this has already been approved by the D.C. circuit."

It will be very difficult for Trump to prove his goal was not to crown himself dictator. There is a zero percent chance that doesn't count as a benefit for Trump.

[Taifuu]

Friday, a federal court handed down a ruling that has significant, arguably massive, implications.



As noted, some judges disagree: the one who made the original ruling, for example. It could get to SCOTUS.

At heart is, apparently, the word "corrupt".



So, this may have to vary defendant by defendant. Simply put, a lot of them were there to stop the election counting process -- and, yes, putting Trump in the White House despite losing the election would count as a benefit. I don't think a single murderous insurrectionist said "well I don't want Trump in charge, but the election was rigged so I'll disrupt the event at great cost to myself".

But, if some can prove that their only goal really was stealing office supplies, they'll walk on obstruction.

That's quite the disingenuous interpretation from the initial judge, unless he's viewing it from the frame point that by voting for Trump in the first place, this guy was voting against his own self-interests. Therefore, any action taken to support Trump could not be considered an act of corruption because you are, at best, shooting yourself in the foot by doing so.

[Breccia]

Therefore, any action taken to support Trump could not be considered an act of corruption because you are, at best, shooting yourself in the foot by doing so.

I mean, they're free to argue that, under oath. It might almost be worth letting them go.

Almost.

Let us never forget, these people who used force, violence, and death to break into the Capitol and shame the United States on the world stage are violent terrorist traitors. They need to be displayed (not literally) as the examples of the horrible, anti-American people that they are, for everyone to see what happens when your poor widdle snowflake feelings are put above the rule of law.

[gondrin]

So, cult deprogramming should be a thing that all people who are going to go to prison for this event as part of their punishment.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tr...ca311649&ei=36

Trump fan gets 4-year sentence for hitting officers with a fire extinguisher on Jan. 6

WASHINGTON — A retired firefighter who went to a "cult deprogramming" expert to figure out how he came to believe Donald Trump's lies about the 2020 presidential election was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison on Tuesday for chucking a fire extinguisher at police officers as they protected the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Robert Sanford, wearing prison orange, told Senior Judge Paul L. Friedman that he was embarrassed, ashamed and disgusted by his behavior on Jan. 6. Sanford, who worked as a firefighter in Chester, Pennsylvania, was arrested in mid-Jan. 2021, and has already spent roughly eight months in custody, which will be shaved off his 52-month sentence. He will also serve three years of supervised release.

"Mob mentality is real, and I got caught up in it," Sanford said, apologizing to the officers he assaulted and to first responders who saw his conduct that day, saying he'd been proud of the work he'd done as a firefighter.

"I never wanted to tarnish that reputation. On Jan. 6, I did," Sanford said.

Sanford, his attorney said, had worked with an individual who specializes in "cult deprogramming" and was "confronted with facts about the 'stolen election' conspiracy theory among others and how psychological manipulation is used to indoctrinate the followers of a conspiracy."

In court on Tuesday, defense attorney Andrew Stewart said that Sanford had "clearly overreacted" to the actions of law enforcement as they attempted to control the violent mob on Jan. 6 and was "totally remorseful" for his conduct.

Stewart said Sanford was willing to sit down and take a hard look at the lies he believed and how he ended up "going down the proverbial rabbit hole," which set him apart from other Jan. 6 defendants who still can't acknowledge basic reality, Stewart said.

Judge Friedman said that Sanford "should have known better than most" what law enforcement was facing that day and should have known what sort of damage a heavy fire extinguisher could do.

Friedman reiterated that defendants can't be punished "just because they believe that the election was rigged" or "just because they believe in Donald Trump" or for "their words and their speech." What they could be punished for are the illegal actions that they took that day, he said. Friedman said that thousands of people at the Capitol had contributed to the mob mentality.

Friedman also talked about the importance of general deterrence, saying that many people still believe that the election was stolen and believe in Trump, although he noted that "not many of them showed up" in Manhattan when Trump was arraigned last week. Alluding to the investigation that Trump is facing from Special Counsel Jack Smith, Friedman said he suspects we'll see what happens at the federal courthouse in D.C. "in a few months" if Trump is indicted.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, whom Sanford struck with a traffic cone, gave a victim impact statement in court on Tuesday. He noted that he'd given half of his life to public service, that more than 140 officers were injured on Jan. 6 and that many officers did not seek medical attention immediately because they "felt obligated to be there" and to protect the building. He said there would have been a "bloodbath of elected officials" if police had simply walked away and not done their jobs on Jan. 6.

If "the former guy" — Trump — were to call upon Sanford to go to the Capitol again, Gonell said, he had not doubt that Sanford would be there.

Some officers who were injured may not come to the sentencing hearings because they are discouraged by what they perceive as the relatively low sentences being given to Jan. 6 rioters, Gonell said.

"I still think that it is worth it," Gonell said. "That's why I'm here today."

Gonell retired in December, in part because of the injuries he sustained on Jan. 6.

About 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and around 1,000 cases are expected to be brought forward before the statute of limitations expires in 2026. More than 3,000 people engaged in activity that could result in criminal charges by either entering the Capitol building or engaging in violent or destructive activity outside.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

[gondrin]

EDIT: Moved to proper thread.

[Flarelaine]

Not sure if this belongs here or it's own thread but I'll just put it here because it involves MTG.

The thread about the current Congress is a fairly good place for anything said or done by current Congresspeople and Senators.

[Breccia]

Zachary Rehl, 37-year-old boomer and insurrectionist, went on the stand as president of the Philly chapter of the Proud Boys.

An assistant U.S. attorney asked Rehl during cross-examination on Tuesday whether he pepper sprayed officers.

"Not that I recall," Rehl said.

When prosecutors displayed images that appeared to show him pepper spraying officers, Rehl at first said he wasn't sure if it was him, and then suggested that if it was him, perhaps he was holding a recording device.

A prosecutor asked him if recording devices have liquid streams coming out of them, and Rehl claimed that he didn't see any stream in the video.

Isaiah Giddings

31-year-old boomer

who pleaded guilty in December, said in his agreed-upon statement of offense, said that Rehl was angrier than Giddings had ever seen him, and had “asked other rioters if they had bear spray,” but the statement said that Rehl did not obtain bear spray.

Rehl admitted that he witnessed some violence on Jan. 6, but downplayed what he saw and claimed that he believed that protesters were trying to get to stages that had been set up for permitted demonstrations at the Capitol building. The stage on the western front was, in fact, set up for President Joe Biden's upcoming inauguration.

"I seen pepper spray and I seen people scuffling with the cops," Rehl said, but chalked it up to normal protest activity. "I seen some scuffles."

"Okay, but even you have to admit it was a chaotic time. Not everyone was going to remember every single second, every single face they saw, every single time they bear maced a cop."

You know who does remember? Your text messages.

"I'm so fucking proud," Rehl wrote to his mother, saying that "our raid" of the Capitol had set off events across the country.

And the pics you post on social media.


"Is that the 'okay' sign, or is it the wh--"
"They're Trump supporters. Figure it out."

"...oh."

“It was terrible, there’s no way to chop it up, I think a lot of cops were assaulted, parts of the building were destroyed, I guess, you could say," Rehl testified. "At the time I didn’t think I did anything wrong."

Rehl told jurors that he did not go to the Capitol with "any intentions to do any of the stuff that we've seen" in videos shown during the trial, and said he "literally went there to protest." Rehl said it would have been better if he'd never gone to D.C. in the first place.

"Okay, so what office supplies is this boomer being charged with?"

He is on trial for seditious conspiracy alongside four other defendants: Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Dominic Pezzola, who was captured on video smashing in a window during the initial breach of the Capitol.

He is charged with stealing democracy. Not paper clips. Not pencils. Not Pelosi's sign. Seditious conspiracy. And, yes, being caught on video pepper spraying a cop, then pretending he didn't remember, isn't helping his chances.

Rehl is trying what many others have tried: "I was caught up in the moment, it was a group thing, it wasn't my fault". Problem is, he was an organizer. That's not going to help him too much. One thousand people each blaming the other 999 hasn't worked so far, not when half of these dumb fucks streamed the other half of these dumb fucks.

We're not going to drag these five Proud Boys out to the front lawn and lynch them. They're not Mike Pence, after all. But as organizers of, arguably, the biggest terrorist act in the US since the Civil War ended -- considering they were trying to directly change the outcome of an election, it has to be debated if this was a worse offense by force and violence to change political outcome, the literal definition of terrorism, than murdering random people -- these guilty dumb fucks need to be made an example that goes into history books. The sentence needs to be enough that their lives are forever changed the way their actions changed history.

Shit needs to get real. And Rehl needs to eat shit.

[Breccia]

So let's talk about Nathan Pelham.

The 40-year-old Texas boomer was due to surrender for four criminal charges, msdeeanors likely related to stealing office supplies. Family members asked local (not federal) police to check up on him.

When they did, Pelham, possibly unwilling to surrender his stolen office supplies, opened fire at the local (not federal) police.

Then, he fired at them a second time.

And a third time.

All of this was after he tried to flee to Canada, by the way. He was turned back at the border for not filling out Form F-U-A.

Man, those must have been really good office supplies. Incidentally I checked several articles on the subject, oddly enough none of them mentioned the office supplies, only that he took part in a murderous insurrection and later shot at the cops. Oh, and the "attempted to flee the country" bit.

Oh, and the fact that, when he was shooting at the cops the first time, there was a child with them. Because the child ran out of the house. Which means Nathan knew there was a child next to the police he was shooting at.

Firing at cops is a felony, in this case apparently a federal one, and he's going to lose his gun.

(checks news)

My bad. Apparently he was already a felon, and shouldn't have had a gun in the first place. Interesting.

Funny, I could have sworn we were told that all this was, was boomers taking office supplies. Not, you know, firing a gun at police and a child. The two sides just don't connect. One has a single throw-away line on an anonymous forum, the other is hundreds of cases of people being tried and convicted. It's like there's enough information to fill a book that directly refutes what a poster here said. I don't get it, guys, how could someone on these forums post something for which there's literally hundreds of pages of evidence that they're wrong, that they must have seen?

[Edge-]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...raps-rcna80717

A right-wing extremist who admitted he wielded a police shield and shattered a window at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot called the charges against him "fake" as the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial, which has been underway for more than three months, nears an end.

Dominic Pezzola — a Proud Boy from New York who is on trial along with former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, and three other members, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl — said during cross examination on Thursday that rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, were "acting as trespassing protesters." He also argued that law enforcement officers used excessive force on the mob that day.

Pezzola, who admitted that he lied to the FBI about one of his co-defendants having a firearm during the riot, also called the trial "phony" and "corrupt." He argued that he was speaking metaphorically when he said he was willing to fight for the Proud Boys, comparing his past remarks to “how I’m fighting this corrupt trial with these fake charges.”

Well, those fake charges might end up landing him in a fake jail cell. And by fake jail cell I mean a real jail cell.

[Nymrohd]

So let's talk about Nathan Pelham.

The 40-year-old Texas boomer was due to surrender for four criminal charges, msdeeanors likely related to stealing office supplies. Family members asked local (not federal) police to check up on him.

When they did, Pelham, possibly unwilling to surrender his stolen office supplies, opened fire at the local (not federal) police.

Then, he fired at them a second time.

And a third time.

All of this was after he tried to flee to Canada, by the way. He was turned back at the border for not filling out Form F-U-A.

Man, those must have been really good office supplies. Incidentally I checked several articles on the subject, oddly enough none of them mentioned the office supplies, only that he took part in a murderous insurrection and later shot at the cops. Oh, and the "attempted to flee the country" bit.

Oh, and the fact that, when he was shooting at the cops the first time, there was a child with them. Because the child ran out of the house. Which means Nathan knew there was a child next to the police he was shooting at.

Firing at cops is a felony, in this case apparently a federal one, and he's going to lose his gun.

(checks news)

My bad. Apparently he was already a felon, and shouldn't have had a gun in the first place. Interesting.

Funny, I could have sworn we were told that all this was, was boomers taking office supplies. Not, you know, firing a gun at police and a child. The two sides just don't connect. One has a single throw-away line on an anonymous forum, the other is hundreds of cases of people being tried and convicted. It's like there's enough information to fill a book that directly refutes what a poster here said. I don't get it, guys, how could someone on these forums post something for which there's literally hundreds of pages of evidence that they're wrong, that they must have seen?

And ofc if he had been black, the texas cops would probably have turned him into swiss cheese before he even opened the door.

[Taifuu]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...raps-rcna80717



Well, those fake charges might end up landing him in a fake jail cell. And by fake jail cell I mean a real jail cell.

So....his defense against the charge of being somewhere he wasn't supposed to be that he was trespassing, not rioting? Does he know even know what trespassing means? I can only assume that he's trying to plead to a lesser offense to avoid a harsher sentence.

Pezzola also admitted that he was wearing a hat that said “respect is earned, beatings are free” during parts of the riot.

Only the classiest of supporters in the MAGA camp.

[Edge-]

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-r...7bc6b4d01013af

A defense attorney argued Tuesday at the close of a landmark trial over the Jan. 6 riot that the Justice Department is making Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio a scapegoat for Donald Trump after the former president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Tarrio and four lieutenants are charged with seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors say was a plot to attack the Capitol to stop the transfer of presidential power from Trump to President Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

In his closing argument, defense lawyer Nayib Hassan noted Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, having been banned from the capital after being arrested on allegations that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner. Trump, Hassan argued, was the one to blame for extorting a crowd outside the White House to “ fight like hell.”

“It was Donald Trump’s words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city,” Hassan told jurors in Washington federal court. “It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power.”

I mean...yes, it was also Enrique Tarrio too. But yes, otherwise yes.