Assault on the Capitol (DC)

[sugar magnolia]

One of the adds that popped (pooped?) up through thread reader was for “White Straight Male” etc tee shirts…

I got that too and ignored it at the time, so I just went back to look again and it reappeared. It seemed to be a link to Light In The Box (an ordinary online retailing outfit for small manufacturers I think) with "Men's Graphic T Shirt" in its product search box.

I wonder if Light In The Box have, yes, An Algorithm which tells them inadequate male assholes are likely to be reading that thread and this is what those people like to buy?

I buy from LightInTheBox semi-regularly, and usually the same type of thing, but I get that same shirt in ads, so I'm guessing it's just a rotating scroll of ads. The emails I get from them are much more targeted.

[pipistrelle]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna94150

WASHINGTON — A self-described "idiot" who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and stole a wallet and a framed photo of the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison on Friday.

Kevin Lyons, a 40-year-old father from Chicago, was previously found guilty of a felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding along with disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and entering and remaining in a restricted building.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Lyons to 51 months — four years and three months — in federal prison, saying that it was very rare for her to have a defendant appear before her who described their childhood as "perfect," as Lyons did. Lyons has "no excuse" for his conduct, she said.

Is it me, or are the sentences getting longer?

[Foggy]

If'n you wear a t-shirt that says "WHITE STRAIGHT MALE," I am going to feel very sorry for you, because you are obvsly claiming victimhood publicly, which is humiliating and embarrassing. I mean, you can't smile or be in a good mood in that shirt, because the next thing you know, somebody is gonna say something that really hurts your feelings. Everybody knows, it's OK to kick around those straight white males, look at all the trouble they caused,

[raison de arizona]

Is it me, or are the sentences getting longer?

and it’s nice to see.

[Maybenaut]

Is it me, or are the sentences getting longer?

and it’s nice to see.

The shorter sentences were the low-hanging fruit - trespassing and disruption of official proceedings. The earlier cases were mostly misdemeanors, but now we’re mostly seeing felonies. I believe some of us predicted this would happen when everyone was all upset about the short prison sentences.

[Suranis]

I lot of those tee shirt ads have different graphics for different clientele. So if you were seen as, for example, left wing or whatever you might get Pride flags on their sample teeshirt in the advert you are shown.

[Foggy]

Yabbut, consider the amount of self-degradation. I mean, I am normally going to assume you are a white male, if you are white, and male. I am not blind, and if I was blind I couldn't read the t-shirt anyway, so it wouldn't help.

And about you being heterosexual, excuse me but I'm not interested in your sex life. Why are you defensive about your sex life when you go out in public anyway? Is there anything else you need to tell us? I wear pride shirts, not to advertise my sexuality, but to support an oppressed minority. And my shirts don't say CAUCASIAN QUEER, because I'm not. They're more subtle than that.

[pipistrelle]

Is it me, or are the sentences getting longer?

and it’s nice to see.

The shorter sentences were the low-hanging fruit - trespassing and disruption of official proceedings. The earlier cases were mostly misdemeanors, but now we’re mostly seeing felonies. I believe some of us predicted this would happen when everyone was all upset about the short prison sentences.

I was one of them, and this is a felony, although I'm not sure why he was charged with one and not some others.
His outdated entry.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/defenda ... evin-james

[realist]

Sentencing is beginning in Jan 6 case of Audrey Southard-Rumsey

Prosecutors will ask for 6 years prison, arguing she went on "violent rampage" in Capitol. And they say, while carrying a pole, she was a "principal agitator" in the mob -- and called "for a 1776-style revolution"

A thread worth reading. Defendant got mouthy at sentencing; it did not help.

[noblepa]

Is it me, or are the sentences getting longer?

and it’s nice to see.

Are the judges getting more serious about giving longer sentences, or is it simply that the first cases to go to trial were the simplest, the "low hanging fruit" and were mostly misdemeanors?

Now, we're seeing the more serious cases going to trial.

[northland10]

Is it me, or are the sentences getting longer?

and it’s nice to see.

The shorter sentences were the low-hanging fruit - trespassing and disruption of official proceedings. The earlier cases were mostly misdemeanors, but now we’re mostly seeing felonies. I believe some of us predicted this would happen when everyone was all upset about the short prison sentences.

I may have been one of those who said something about the moving the small ones out quickly to save their resources for the bigger fish.

[Sam the Centipede]

But want the grumbling about the sentences in early trials often being below the recommended levels for the convicted offenses?

It wasn't, as I recall, possibly inaccurately, that the low-hanging fruit were beginning tried before the top bananas. Perhaps elsewhere, but not here, iirc.

[northland10]

But want the grumbling about the sentences in early trials often being below the recommended levels for the convicted offenses?

Some of it was, though not all.

As for "recommended levels," that is a rather grey area in the federal sentencing guidelines. Despite the press tossing out a single number, the guidelines are way more complicated.

In any case, I have noticed in many non-Jan 6 cases that go below the requested or what folks might call "recommended" levels. Since I don't have data on how closely federal courts are up or down on how they sentence compared to an expected or requested sentence, I cannot speak if their Jan 6 cases were above or below any median. This is also a federal court so how things are done would be different from a state court sentencing. I am not one to get all riled up at a sentence when I do not have the full data to completely determine if the sentence is way lower than what it should be.

This is not meant to dismiss the fact that persons of color have historically been sentenced higher. However, that is a larger issue about sentencing in general that needs to be fixed. It is not something that is going get heavy consideration when there are hundreds of defendants to get through.

I don't think the DC Federal Court has a great deal of experience with this many cases for one event and may be short staff to help sustain it through such a large influx of cases.

[Sam the Centipede]

Thanks NL10. I don't have a strong opinion on the sentencing, I just had the impression that early sentences were often below guidelines (that's the word! not "recommended", as I wrote!) and that was the irritant. Generally I think US courts sentence too harshly but some Jan 6 sentences seemed benign for an insurrection of such magnitude.

I wonder whether sociology or criminology researchers in universities are studying how the perpetrators' attitudes have changed since the big event, how many are thinking "oh s***, how could I have been so stupid?" or "those b******s won't stop me insurrecting, Trump will lead us to victory!" And how attitudes differ between those who have served their sentences and those who are still waiting for the call to plead or state their defense to charges.

[bob]

Spread the word...while I am grateful to Tucker. That footage had nothing to do with my release from prison. It was 6 months of good time + 6 months off for having accumulated First Step Act credits that got me out 12 months early.
Disinfo spreads fast!
Will Truth spread faster?

[raison de arizona]

Narrator: The truth did not spread faster. In fact, the truth did not spread at all.

[RTH10260]

Jan 6. defendant unleashes courtroom rant at sentencing hearing, attacking everything from groceries and gas prices to the prosecutors trying her case

Erin Snodgrass
Tue, July 18, 2023 at 1:42 AM GMT+2

• A Jan. 6 defendant unleashed a scathing diatribe during her sentencing hearing last week.
  Audrey Southard-Rumsey, who was found guilty of seven Jan. 7 charges, called prosecutors "liars."
  A judge ultimately sentenced her to six years in prison.

A Florida music instructor who used a flagpole to attack a police officer during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, was sentenced to six years in prison last week after forgoing her prepared remarks and unleashing an expletive-filled diatribe in court.

Audrey Southard-Rumsey, 54, was found guilty in January of seven charges related to the insurrection, including three counts of assaulting police officers, three counts of civil disorder, and one count of obstruction.

Prosecutors say Southard-Rumsey was in the thick of the action on Jan. 6, posting selfies from the Capitol, calling for a revolution on social media, and using a flagpole to threaten a Capitol Police sergeant, which caused him to fall and hit his head on the base of a marble statue.

Southard-Rumsey was also caught on video yelling sexist and lewd threats toward then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors said she riled up a mob of people outside the Speaker's Lobby during the siege while frightened lawmakers huddled inside — a charge that prompted US District Judge Amit Mehta to tack on a rare "terrorism enhancement" to her sentence, according to CBS News.

But when Southard-Rumsey had her opportunity to speak in court during her Friday sentencing hearing, she took the time not to apologize or ask for leniency, as many other Jan. 6 defendants have previously done, but to deliver a 15-minute scathing diatribe that touched on everything from inflation to Antifa.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/jan-6-defend ... 30046.html
(original: INSIDER)

[RTH10260]

FBI charges now-husband of 'Pink Beret' Jan. 6 rioter who was turned in by her ex

Ryan J. Reilly
Updated Tue, July 18, 2023 at 3:14 AM GMT+2

WASHINGTON — The now-husband of a Jan. 6 defendant who was identified by her ex after the FBI posted viral images of her wearing a pink beret during the Capitol attack has also been charged with federal crimes.

Spencer Geller, the husband of "Pink Beret," now identified by the FBI as Jennifer Inzunza Vargas Geller, faces a felony count of obstructing, impeding or interfering with officers during civil disorder, along with misdemeanor charges. The couple were in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, and split up once they got to the Capitol. Vargas Geller ended up inside, while Geller, her husband, remained outside and was at the location of some of the most violent scenes of the day.

As NBC News first reported, "Pink Beret" has long been a subject of interest to online "Sedition Hunters" who have aided in hundreds of Jan. 6 cases and who have identified hundreds of additional Capitol rioters who have not been arrested. But it was not until the FBI tweeted images of "Pink Beret" in April that her photos went viral and were seen by an ex, who was standing in line at a Joann Fabric and Crafts store when his buddy showed him the FBI tweet on his phone.

“I stopped dead in my tracks,” the ex said. “I’m like, ‘That’s Jenny.’”

The ex reported Vargas Geller to the FBI, and she was charged with several misdemeanors on May 8. But she was not arrested because she was out of the country. The FBI affidavit in her husband's case indicates that a tipster believed the couple were traveling in Japan, and online sleuths have surfaced numerous photos and videos of the couple, who appear to be living in Asia with a baby.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-charges- ... 43589.html
(original: NBC News)

[RTH10260]

'Batman hat,' cellphone help link Central Falls man to Jan. 6 Capitol breach

Jack Perry, The Providence Journal
Updated Fri, July 14, 2023 at 5:43 PM GMT+2

A Central Falls man was arrested by FBI agents Thursday on charges that he broke into the U.S. Capitol building Jan. 6, part of a mob that disrupted certification of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Juan J. Rodriguez was discovered by Capitol Police inside a Senate staff office room with two other men, one wearing a helmet and the other wearing a "Make America Great Again" baseball cap, according to an FBI affidavit. Rodriguez was identified in part by the black-and-yellow Batman ski hat he'd been wearing, according to an affidavit by Special Agent David George.

Rodriguez is the fourth Rhode Island resident charged in the attack on the Capitol.

Rodriguez confirmed to investigators, in a Sept. 7, 2022, interview, that he'd been in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021 to attend a rally for former President Donald Trump, and acknowledged walking to the Capitol, but denied entering the building, George wrote in the affidavit.

"He identified himself in a photo from January 6, wearing the yellow Batman hat," George wrote.

What is he charged with?
Rodriguez was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol building or grounds, and parading demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building, according to the arrest warrant.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/batman-hat-c ... 23549.html
(original: The Providence Journal)

[RTH10260]

Wife’s social media post helps FBI arrest Kentucky man on Capitol rioting charges

Taylor Six
Thu, July 13, 2023 at 10:22 PM GMT+2

Another Kentuckian is facing federal charges after reportedly participating in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and assaulting Capitol officers with a “chemical irritant.”

Luke Hoffman was identified in a federal affidavit written by William Samad, a task force officer with the FBI Louisville Division, Covington Resident Agency. He was arrested on July 12 and remained in custody Thursday, according to court documents.

According to the affidavit, Hoffman obstructed a law enforcement officer during official duties, assaulted or resisted an employee of the United States, entered and remained in a restricted building, and used abusive language to be disruptive at the Capitol building.

Samad testified in his affidavit that Luke Hoffman was present on the Capitol grounds in a “coyote tan tactical vest” which he was wearing in a post shared by his wife on the social media service Parler that read: “I am so proud of my husband! He stood up for America today!! Were you part of today too?”

Multiple individuals interviewed positively identified Hoffman as the person in the social media post, which matched surveillance footage, according to court documents.

Hoffman is one of more than 1,000 people who have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the Capitol’s breach, according to the FBI. The rioters were attempting to interrupt the certification of 2020 election results after President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump.

The affidavit includes still images from Capitol surveillance footage where Hoffman can be seen reportedly “interfering with law enforcement officers’ attempts to secure Capitol grounds and engaging in assaults of officers on and around the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021.”

Hoffman yanked a piece of bike-rack fencing away from a police officer as they attempted to manage a crowd. He can be seen struggling with an officer to get their baton and “spraying a substance consistent with a chemical irritant at multiple officers,” according to the affidavit.



https://www.yahoo.com/news/wife-faceboo ... 28570.html
(original: Lexington Herald-Leader)

[Gregg]

Thanks NL10. I don't have a strong opinion on the sentencing, I just had the impression that early sentences were often below guidelines (that's the word! not "recommended", as I wrote!) and that was the irritant. Generally I think US courts sentence too harshly but some Jan 6 sentences seemed benign for an insurrection of such magnitude.

I wonder whether sociology or criminology researchers in universities are studying how the perpetrators' attitudes have changed since the big event, how many are thinking "oh s***, how could I have been so stupid?" or "those b******s won't stop me insurrecting, Trump will lead us to victory!" And how attitudes differ between those who have served their sentences and those who are still waiting for the call to plead or state their defense to charges.

I would like to see a study published that lays out what the "Political Prisoners" actually got as opposed to what the Sentencing Guidelines called for, and we can finally put to rest this nonsense about them being oppressed. Hardly a single one has been sentenced to the lower end of sentencing guidelines and they'd have you believe they're getting 'life plus 50" for traffic tickets.

[bob]

Rachel Powell found guilty.

You may remember her from this stunt:

[northland10]

IMHIANALO, what sentence is called for the the federal sentencing guidelines is not cut and dry. It is filled with different charts to determine scores then added to with upward and downward departures along with some deference to specified sentencing guidelines in the US Code, except when it does not.

It is as clear as mud. I am a data analyst, I tried to follow through the guidelines on some cases. I gave up.

[pipistrelle]

I follow mostly the prosecutors' asks and the relative violence of the crime.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

IMHIANALO, what sentence is called for the the federal sentencing guidelines is not cut and dry. It is filled with different charts to determine scores then added to with upward and downward departures along with some deference to specified sentencing guidelines in the US Code, except when it does not.

It is as clear as mud. I am a data analyst, I tried to follow through the guidelines on some cases. I gave up.

Ah, but you didn’t practice law pre-guidelines. Those days were akin to being the great Carnac and guessing the judge’s thoughts based upon his/her previous sentencings. Or, for your consideration, like the U.S. Supreme Court making rulings based upon the Founding Fathers’ “intent”.