Judge Continues to Sentence Capitol Rioters More Severely Than Prosecutors Wish
As the docket of cases stemming from the events of January 6th continue to meander their way toward a conclusion, there has been a fairly wide berth of opinions of just how serious the incident was.
On the far left, they have suggested that everyone involved in the events of that day are traitors to our nation, no better than the Confederate soldiers of the Civil War, and that they could or should be hung for treason.
Over on the right wing of the American political system, there have been comparisons between the attempted insurrection and the public tours that come through the Capitol on most days.
And so, off course, adjudicating these cases is going to yield a wide variety of results. The latest sentence to come down was a harsh one, and the judge who birthed it made it known that this was very much on purpose.
A federal judge in Washington has repeatedly sentenced people who stormed the U.S. Capitol to more prison time than prosecutors sought, saying that even people who were not violent should face consequences for joining the unprecedented assault.
In the past week, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has imposed sentences ranging from 14 to 45 days on four people who pleaded guilty to unlawful parading and picketing inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6 — a misdemeanor offense.
“There have to be consequences for participating in an attempted violent overthrow of the government, beyond sitting at home,” Chutkan said at one of the hearings.
In some cases, the Obama-appointed judge would tack on an additional 33% jail time over what prosecutors were seeking.
In recent weeks, there have been concerns among the far-right that Capitol defendants were being treated unfairly by authorities, with many even going so far as to protest at the Capitol last month.