Sedition

[billy.pilgrim]

Starting to look like DeSantis blew it with Musk, so

Full pardons and some kind of Patriot Freedom awards coming in 2/25.

[Vrede too]

Starting to look like DeSantis blew it with Musk, so

Full pardons and some kind of Patriot Freedom awards coming in 2/25.

Pardons and awards from who and for who?

2 more Oath Keepers sentenced to prison terms for Jan. 6 Capitol attack

Two Army veterans who stormed the U.S. Capitol in a military-style formation with fellow members of the Oath Keepers were sentenced Friday to prison terms, a day after the far-right extremist group's founder received a record-setting 18-years behind bars in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars and sentenced Kenneth Harrelson, of Titusville, Florida, to four years in prison.

A federal jury acquitted Watkins and Harrelson of the seditious conspiracy charge that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty of in November. But jurors convicted Watkins and Harrelson of other Jan. 6 charges, including obstructing Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s victory....

Mehta agreed with the Justice Department that Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers' actions could be punished as “terrorism,” increasing the recommended sentence under federal guidelines.

Bazinga!

But the judge ultimately gave Watkins and Harrelson far less time than prosecutors were seeking. The Justice Department had requested 18 years for Watkins and 15 for Harrelson.

No opinion here. Eight and one half years and four years are still a lot. GoMerrickGo.

... Mehta said that while Watkins was not a top leader, like Rhodes, she was more than just a "foot soldier,” noting that at least three others charged in the riot wouldn’t have been there if she hadn’t recruited them to join.

“Your role that day was more aggressive, more assaultive, more purposeful than perhaps others," he told her.

Watkins tearfully apologized for her actions before the judge handed down her sentence. She condemned the violence by rioters who assaulted police, but conceded that her presence at the Capitol “probably inspired those people to a degree." She described herself as “just another idiot running around the Capitol” on Jan. 6.

“probably"? Riiight.
"idiot"? Yep, though I would go with deplorable terrorist idiot.

... Harrelson screamed “Treason!” — an epithet directed at members of Congress — as he entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, a prosecutor said.

Irony.

One of their other co-defendants, Florida chapter leader Kelly Meggs, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years behind bars for seditious conspiracy and other charges.

Rhodes, 58, of Granbury, Texas, was the first Jan. 6 defendant convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive his punishment for what prosecutors said was a weekslong plot to forcibly block the transfer of power from former President Donald Trump to Biden. Four other Oath Keepers convicted of the sedition charge during a second trial in January will be sentenced next week.

GoMerrickGo.

... The Oath Keepers' sentences this week could serve as a guide for prosecutors in a separate Jan. 6 case against leaders of the Proud Boys. Earlier this month, a different jury convicted former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and three other group leaders of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was another plot to keep Trump in the White House.

Before Thursday, the longest sentence in the more than 1,000 Capitol riot cases was 14 years and two months for a man with a long criminal record who attacked police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the Capitol. Just over 500 of the defendants have been sentenced, with more than half receiving prison time.

X just over 505. GoMerrickGo.

[O Really]

"U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars"

Is anybody but me surprised that Watkins is a remanufactured female? I wonder if her fellow Oath Keepers knew that.

[GoCubsGo]

"U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars"

Is anybody but me surprised that Watkins is a remanufactured female? I wonder if her fellow Oath Keepers knew that.

Remanufactured female?

[O Really]

"U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars"

Is anybody but me surprised that Watkins is a remanufactured female? I wonder if her fellow Oath Keepers knew that.

Remanufactured female?

Transgender.

[Vrede too]

"U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars"

Is anybody but me surprised that Watkins is a remanufactured female? I wonder if her fellow Oath Keepers knew that.

Idk about the Oath Keepers specifically, but it wasn't a secret when she was in the Army.

Remanufactured female?

Transgender.

Judge who sentenced Oath Keeper for her role in the Capitol riot said she could have used her identity as a trans woman to be a role model, rather than a riot leader

... US District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Watkins to eight-and-a-half years in prison on Friday. Watkins is a US Army veteran and Oath Keepers member who founded a local militia in Ohio, which she mobilized to join her in attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, CNN reported.

Much of Watkins' emotional testimony focused on her struggles as a trans woman in the military, a journey she says made her "fearful and paranoid" and drove her deep into the world of conspiracy theories, according to CNN.

Mehta acknowledged her hardship at Friday's sentencing, telling the court that Watkins' "story itself shows a great deal of courage and resilience," according to CNN.

"You have overcome a lot," Mehta said, according to CNN. "And you are to be held out as someone who can actually be a role model for other people in that journey. And I say that at a time when people who are trans in our country are so often vilified and used for political purposes."

But, he said Watkins' suffering "makes it all the more hard for me to understand the lack of empathy for those who suffered that day," CNN reported....

Now, it won't surprise me if some bigots are citing Watkins as an example of violent transgenders, just as they just did with the Nashville xtian school shooter.

Tangent away from the Sedition thread, sorry:

Fact Check-Majority of US mass shooters are cis men, not transgender or non-binary people

A list of perpetrators in four shootings in the U.S. who identified as transgender or non-binary represent the minority of suspects in mass shootings, but users online are sharing the list without this context. Data collection on mass shootings varies by methodology, but experts told Reuters data shows the majority of mass shootings are carried out by cisgender men....

The vast majority are cisgender men, and it's really just three shootings by transgender suspects.

Why extremism experts say it's worth discussing the Colorado shooting suspect's pronouns
New information from the alleged shooter’s online presence and former neighbor has led to skepticism among some extremism experts about the suspect being nonbinary.

Back to the Reuters Fact Check article:

... The Gun Violence Archive, which began collecting data on gun violence in the U.S. in 2013 (here), (here), recorded more than 4,400 mass shootings in the last decade, Executive Director Mark Bryant told Reuters via email. Its definition of mass shooting is four or more people shot resulting in injury or death (excluding the perpetrator).

Of those, “the number of known suspects in mass shootings which are trans is under 10 for the last decade,” which translated to “1:880 [or 0.11%] of the 4,400 shootings” they recorded, he said.

Further, the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), which studies all forms of targeted violence including mass casualty attacks, published a report with data from 2016 to 2020 (here).

The report examined 173 attacks in the U.S. that “that resulted in harm to three or more individuals in public locations,” Justine Whelan, press secretary for the U.S. Secret Service, told Reuters via email, and “three attackers (2%) were transgender, assigned female at birth, but were known to identify as male at the time of their attacks.” ...

Bigots gotta bigot no matter how stupid they look.

[Vrede too]

Jan. 6 rioters are raking in thousands in donations. Now the US is coming after their haul

Less than two months after he pleaded guilty to storming the U.S. Capitol, Texas resident Daniel Goodwyn appeared on Tucker Carlson's then-Fox News show and promoted a website where supporters could donate money to Goodwyn and other rioters whom the site called “political prisoners.”

The Justice Department now wants Goodwyn to give up more than $25,000 he raised — a clawback that is part of a growing effort by the government to prevent rioters from being able to personally profit from participating in the attack that shook the foundations of American democracy.

An Associated Press review of court records shows that prosecutors in the more than 1,000 criminal cases from Jan. 6, 2021, are increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of prison sentences to offset donations from supporters of the Capitol rioters.

Dozens of defendants have set up online fundraising appeals for help with legal fees, and prosecutors acknowledge there's nothing wrong with asking for help for attorney expenses. But the Justice Department has, in some cases, questioned where the money is really going because many of those charged have had government-funded legal representation.

Most of the fundraising efforts appear on GiveSendGo, which bills itself as “The #1 Free Christian Fundraising Site” and has become a haven for Jan. 6 defendants barred from using mainstream crowdfunding sites, including GoFundMe, to raise money. The rioters often proclaim their innocence and portray themselves as victims of government oppression, even as they cut deals to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors....

No surprise that the fanboys of the slacker Grifter in Chief are slacker grifters. GoMerrickGo.

[Vrede too]

Woman who threatened Nancy Pelosi with hanging during Capitol riot gets over 2 years in prison

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.

Pauline Bauer was near Pelosi's office suite on Jan. 6, 2021, when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.

In January, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden convicted Bauer of riot-related charges after hearing trial testimony without a jury. The judge sentenced her to two years and three months of imprisonment, giving her credit for the several months she already has served in jail, court records show.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months for Bauer, 55, of Kane, Pennsylvania.

Bauer was part of the mob that forced police officers on the East Plaza to retreat. After forcing her way into the Capitol, she accosted officers who were trying to secure the Rotunda, shoving one of them, and yelled at police to “bring them out or we’re coming in,” according to federal prosecutors.

“They’re criminals. They need to hang,” she screamed. “Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang (her). Bring her out." ...

Is two years and three months minus several months time served too light?

She came to Washington with at least five other people who have been charged in the Capitol riot, including co-defendant William Blauser, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Last year, McFadden ordered Blauser to pay a $500 fine but didn’t sentence him to any term of incarceration or probation.

Is $500 and no prison too light? Yes.

McFadden convicted Bauer of all five counts in her indictment, including a felony charge that she obstructed the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that certified President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

Defense attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said Bauer never intended to interfere with the process of certifying the Electoral College vote.

LIAR!

She “genuinely regrets her past actions” and doesn't pose a threat to the public, her lawyer said.

"The international spotlight showcasing her at her worst has deeply affected her," Maknoon wrote.

Prosecutors said Bauer lied during her trial testimony, giving a bogus explanation for her confrontation with police and claiming she didn't remember threatening Pelosi.

LIAR!

Bauer has used “sovereign citizen” extremist rhetoric and filed “nonsense" court documents while defending herself, prosecutors said.

More than a year before the trial, McFadden ordered Bauer to be jailed for several months for violating conditions of her release. She had claimed the court has no authority over her and told the judge that she doesn’t want “any lawyering from the bench.”

FLAKE!

... More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 500 of them have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from one week to 18 years.

GoMerrickGo!

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden was appointed by TRE45QN. He is a former LEO. He's also a TRE45QN donor and transition volunteer. "He has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2003."

McFadden ruled in favor of Dolt .45 vs the House in a border wall case. He was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He ruled against Dolt .45 vs the House in a tax returns case.

... McFadden also received national media attention for suggesting that the January 6 Capitol rioters were being treated more harshly than the rioters in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. "The US Attorney's Office would have more credibility if it was even-handed in its concern about riots and mobs in the city," said McFadden during sentencing for one of the Capitol rioters. He later became the first judge to issue an outright acquittal of an accused January 6 rioter who had breached the Capitol grounds, concluding that the defendant "reasonably believed the [Capitol police] officers allowed him into the Capitol." McFadden sentenced another January 6 protester to 52 months imprisonment for having seized a police baton from an officer and used it to strike two other officers.

Mixed.

She was incredibly lucky to have McFadden, a trump appointee, as her judge. McFadden has been criticized by his fellow judges for his leniency in sentencing the insurrectionists that come before his bench.

Yes, but she's sorry. We'll find out in a couple of years if she's REALLY sorry or just "until I get out of jail" sorry. I suspect the latter.

2 years is way too short. What about fines for damage? What about convictions for assaulting Police Officers? What about requiring her to stay 100 yards away from any federal property? And remove her permission to vote for a dozen years and also no weapons beyond a kitchen knife for that period?

Too lenient. Then again, this also means her rights to vote and own firearms have been stripped due to the felony conviction now on her record. Of course, she could always go to court and hope for a judge who'll have mercy and restore both to her, but that depends wholly on whether or not the Trump-appointed ones last two years from today. As in, they haven't all been rounded up and dumped in prison cells themselves. Because usually, if Trump appointed someone, they do turn out to be criminals in some way, shape, or form.

[Vrede too]

Oath Keepers convicted in Jan. 6 Capitol riot get prison in latest extremist sentencings
Two Florida men who stormed the U.S. Capitol with other members of the far-right Oath Keepers group were sentenced Friday to three years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges — the latest in a historic string of sentences in the Jan. 6

... David Moerschel, 45, a neurophysiologist from Punta Gorda, and Joseph Hackett, a 52-year-old chiropractor from Sarasota, were convicted in January alongside other members of the antigovernment extremist group for their roles in what prosecutors described as a violent plot to stop the transfer power from former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Both men were among the lower-level members charged with seditious conspiracy. Moerschel was sentenced to three years in prison and Hackett got three and a half years.

All told, nine people associated with the Oath Keepers have been tried for seditious conspiracy and six were convicted of the rarely used Civil War-era charge in two separate trials, including the group's founder Stewart Rhodes. Rhodes was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison — a record for a Jan. 6 defendant. Three defendants were cleared of the sedition charge but found guilty of other Jan. 6 crimes.

GoMerrickGo!

Moerschel and Hackett helped amass guns and ammunition to stash in a Virginia hotel for a so-called “quick reaction force” that could be quickly shuttled to Washington, prosecutors said. The weapons were never deployed. Moerschel provided an AR-15 and a Glock semi-automatic handgun and Hackett helped transport weapons, prosecutors said.

On Jan. 6, both men dressed in paramilitary gear and marched into the Capitol with fellow Oath Keepers in a military-style line formation, charging documents stated.

“The security of our country and the safety of democracy should not hinge on the impulses of madmen,” Justice Department prosecutor Troy Edwards said.

Oblique reference to TRE45QN?

Moerschel was a neurophysiologist who monitored surgical patients under anesthesia before his arrest, though he's since been fired and now works in construction and landscaping.

The only non-Latino on the crew.

... Neither man was a top leader in the group, and both left shortly after Jan. 6. Both sentences were far lower than the 12 years prosecutors sought for Hackett and 10 for Moreschel.

Moreschel was in the Capitol for about 12 minutes, and didn’t do anything violent or scream at police officers, Mehta noted....

4 minutes = 1 year. Could be fair, not sure 10 years is warranted.

“Sentencing shouldn’t be vengeful, it shouldn’t be such that it is unduly harsh simply for the sake of being harsh,” said the judge, who also imposed a three-year term of supervised release for both men....

Another year per 4 minutes. We can expect the terrorists to be good boys for 6 years at least.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta was appointed by Barack Obama.

[Vrede too]

‘They fought for freedom’: the nightly vigil to sanctify the January 6 rioters

Um, they fought for their cowardly idol's lies.

... about 15 people ... the 303rd evening of the “Freedom Corner” ...

It's a mass movement!

... On Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, the Freedom Corner crew marched from the Capitol to their usual spot about two miles away, but were joined along their route by their chief nemesis: a livestreamer named Anarchy Princess.

“Terrorists coming, watch out, there’s terrorists behind me,” the counter-protester, wearing a baseball cap and aviator sunglasses, cried into a megaphone as the group walked. “The Nazis are behind me, Trump’s little cry baby losers, they insurrected the Capitol, are behind me. Fuck Ashli Babbitt!”

As the group neared their destination, where a large and noisy group of counter-protesters had also massed, video showed Witthoeft – Babbitt’s mother – pushing Anarchy Princess, and later grabbing a megaphone she was using to broadcast siren noises and smashing it on the ground. Police arrested Witthoeft the following day....

[GoCubsGo]

... On Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, the Freedom Corner crew marched from the Capitol to their usual spot about two miles away, but were joined along their route by their chief nemesis: a livestreamer named Anarchy Princess.

“Terrorists coming, watch out, there’s terrorists behind me,” the counter-protester, wearing a baseball cap and aviator sunglasses, cried into a megaphone as the group walked. “The Nazis are behind me, Trump’s little cry baby losers, they insurrected the Capitol, are behind me. Fuck Ashli Babbitt!”

As the group neared their destination, where a large and noisy group of counter-protesters had also massed, video showed Witthoeft – Babbitt’s mother – pushing Anarchy Princess, and later grabbing a megaphone she was using to broadcast siren noises and smashing it on the ground. Police arrested Witthoeft the following day....

You know there had to be video.

[GoCubsGo]

Is it finally happening?

[Vrede too]

Is it finally happening?

https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/ ... 2342135808

Leaving aside the potentially devastating impact on TRE45QN, 'multiple convict Mark Meadows' sure has a nice ring to it, and it opens the door to griefing NC11 cons mercilessly.

[GoCubsGo]

So....these people are lying under oath?

[O Really]

Threat: "Mr. Meadows, here's the evidence we have that could send you away for a long time."
Intimidation: "I think you understand that the evidence could be disastrous for you, but it's in your best interest to testify fully and honestly."

[GoCubsGo]

It's True!

Been confirmed by multiple sources.

[O Really]

It may have just been his schtick for a while, but the man is truly rubber room ready at this point.

Overall, it's been a pretty good day. Trump figuratively perp-walked, Pat Robertson dead, Voters Rights somehow magically upheld, beautiful day all round.

[GoCubsGo]

It may have just been his schtick for a while, but the man is truly rubber room ready at this point.

Overall, it's been a pretty good day. Trump figuratively perp-walked, Pat Robertson dead, Voters Rights somehow magically upheld, beautiful day all round.

[GoCubsGo]

I'd hate this for him.

[GoCubsGo]

Bet quite a few of her brethren are ashamed of her too.