Judges punishing January 6 rioters fear violence as elections approach

Over the past four years, judges at Washington’s federal courthouse have punished hundreds of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unprecedented attack on the country’s democracy. On the eve of the next presidential elections, some judges fear that a new outbreak of political violence is on the way.

Before recently sentencing a rioter to prison, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays Americans will accept the outcome of next month’s election. But the veteran judge expressed concern that Donald Trump and his allies are spreading the same kind of conspiracy theories that fueled the mob riot on January 6, 2021.

“That sore loser is saying the same things he said before,” Walton said earlier this month without naming the Republican presidential candidate. “He’s rallying the troops again, so if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s not inconceivable that we’ll see the same situation again. And who knows? It could be worse.”

Walton, a candidate of President George W. Bush, is not alone. Other judges have said the political climate is ready for another attack like the one that injured more than 100 police officers at the Capitol. As Election Day approaches, judges often emphasize the need to send a message outside their courtrooms that political violence cannot be tolerated.

“It scares me to think about what will happen if anyone on either side is not happy with the outcome of the election,” Judge Jia Cobb, a nominee of President Biden, said last month during a sentencing hearing for four rioters at the Capitol.

Judge Rudolph Contreras lamented the potential for more politically motivated violence as he sentenced a Colorado man, Jeffrey Sabol, who helped other rioters drag a police officer into the crowd. Sabol later told FBI agents that a “call to arms had been announced” and that he “answered the call because he was a patriot fighter.”

“It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine a similar call taking place in the coming months, and the court would be concerned that Mr. Sabol would answer that call in the same manner,” said Contreras, a candidate for President Obama, in March. before sentencing Sabol to more than five years in prison.

Trump’s distortion of the Jan. 6 attack has been a cornerstone of his effort to reclaim the White House. The former president has denied any responsibility for the crimes of supporters who smashed windows, attacked police officers and sent lawmakers into hiding as they gathered to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

Trump has vowed to pardon the rioters, whom he calls “patriots” and “hostages,” if he wins in November. And he said he would only accept the results of the upcoming election if they were “free and fair,” raising doubts reminiscent of his baseless claims in 2020.

Judges have repeatedly used their platform on the court to denounce efforts to downplay the Jan. 6 violence and label the rioters as political prisoners. And some have expressed concern about what such rhetoric means for the future of the country and its democracy.

“We are in a very difficult time in our country, and I hope we can survive it,” Walton said this month as he condemned a Tennessee nurse who used medical scissors to break down a glass door at the Capitol. hit.

“I have a young daughter and a young grandson, and I would like America to be available to them and be as good to them as it is to me,” he added. “But I don’t know if we’ll survive with the mentality that happened that day.”

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 siege, which disrupted the peaceful transfer of presidential power for the first time in the nation’s history. More than 1,000 rioters have been convicted. About 650 of them received prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years.

Justice Department prosecutors have argued in many cases that a prison sentence is necessary to deter convicted Capitol rioters from engaging in more politically motivated violence.

“As the 2024 presidential election approaches and many loud voices in the media and online continue to sow discord and distrust, the potential for a repeat of January 6 looms ominously,” prosecutors have repeatedly warned in court filings.

Prosecutors argue that defendants who have shown little or no remorse for their actions on Jan. 6 could be breaking the law again. Some rioters even seem proud of their crimes.

The first rioter to enter the Capitol texted his mother: “If I get the chance I’ll go again.” A Washington state man who stormed the Capitol with other members of the extremist Proud Boys group told a judge, “You can give me 100 years and I would do it all over again.” A Kentucky nurse who joined the riot told a television interviewer that she would “do it again tomorrow.”

A Colorado woman known to her social media followers as the “J6 Praying Grandma” avoided a prison sentence in August when a magistrate convicted her of disorderly conduct and trespassing on Capitol grounds. Rebecca Lavrenz told the judge that God, not Trump, led her to Washington on January 6.

“And she almost promised to do it all again,” said prosecutor Terence Parker.

Prosecutors had asked for 10 months behind bars. After her conviction in April, Lavrenz went on a “media blitz” to defend the mafia, spread disinformation, undermine confidence in the courts and increase her fame in a community that believes January 6 was “a good day for this country,” Parker. said.

Magistrate Zia Faruqui sentenced Lavrenz to six months of house arrest and fined her $103,000, stressing the need to “turn down the volume” before the next elections.

“These outside influences, the people who are tearing our country apart, will not help you,” Faruqui told her.

Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.