Jacob Chansley, the most notable Jan. 6 protestor—he was decked out in horns and fur as he marched through the Capitol—pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing Congress back in September. “Unlawfully obstructing an official proceeding” is a felony.
“The United States respectfully recommends that the Court impose a sentence of 51 months’ imprisonment followed by three years supervised release, and $2,000 restitution,” a prosecutor’s memo stated.
The judge instead sentenced Chansley today to 41 months in the hoosegow.
“What you did here was horrific, as you now concede,” declared Judge Royce Lamberth. “It is the type of conduct that is so serious that I cannot justify downward departure.”
Chansley is considered to be one of the first 30 protestors to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6. He entered with a flagpole adorned with a spear tip (probably not wise). He posed for pictures after being asked to leave. He also made social media postings in Nov. 2020 declaring that traitors should be hanged. While in the Capitol he wrote a note for former Vice President Mike Pence that read, “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”
Related: January 6 Update: Five Things You Might Have Missed
FACT-O-RAMA! Antifa thug David Campbell, 32, was sentenced to a mere 18 months in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of felony assault. He punched and choked a 56-year-old-man he had followed out of a conservative event. Chansley was not accused of engaging in any violence.
Chansley’s sentence seems harsh but isn’t surprising. Biden’s DOJ has arrested almost 650 people for entering the Capitol, even though most were peacefully taking selfies. Antifa and BLM, however, aren’t held to the same standards. Almost 50% of rioters in Portland have had their federal charges dropped.
FACT-O-RAMA! The FBI confirmed that there were no insurrection attempts on Jan. 6.
Here is a chart from RealClear Investigations comparing the damages from Jan. 6, the George Floyd riots, and the riots that surrounded Trump’s 2016 inauguration. Jan. 6 doesn’t compare to what BLM and Antifa have done to this country.
Chansley fell on his sword for the judge but it did little to help.
“Men of honor admit when they’re wrong not just publicly but to themselves, and so I would like to use this as an opportunity to admit to your honor, to the prosecution, to the nation, to the world I was wrong for entering the Capitol,” Chansley told the judge. “I may be guilty of this crime, but I am in no way, shape, or form a dangerous criminal. I am not a violent man. I am not an insurrectionist. I am certainly not a domestic terrorist. I am a good man who broke the law.”
“What you did was terrible,” Judge Lamberth stated. “You made yourself the epitome of the riot. I don’t take any pleasure in this sentencing. What you did here was actually obstruct the functioning of the whole government. It’s such a serious crime.”
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