Many rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol a year ago are shedding tears and expressing remorse when judges sentence them for their part in the insurrection.
WASHINGTON — Florida business owner Robert Palmer cheered on the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan.6 before he joined the fray. Screaming obscenities, he hurled a wooden plank and a fire extinguisher at police officers trying to ward off the mob. Nearly a year later, Palmer fought back tears when he faced the federal judge who sentenced him to more than five years in prison. He said he was “horrified, absolutely devastated” by what he had done. “I’m just so ashamed that I was a part of that,” Palmer told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Dec.17 before she gave him the longest prison term for any rioter so far. Judges are hearing tearful expressions of remorse – and a litany of excuses – from rioters paying a price for joining the Jan.6 insurrection, even as others try to play down the deadly attack on a seat of American democracy. The Justice Department’s investigation of the riot has now entered the punishment phase. So far,71 people have been sentenced for riot-related crimes. They include a company CEO, an architect, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, a gym owner, a former Houston police officer and a University of Kentucky student. Many rioters have said they lost jobs and friends after their mob of Donald Trump loyalists disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Fifty-six of the 71 pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Most of them were sentenced to home confinement or jail terms measured in weeks or months, according to an Associated Press tally of every sentencing. But rioters who assaulted police officers have gotten years behind bars. With hundreds of people charged, the Justice Department has taken heat for not coming down harder on some rioters, and it has failed to charge anyone with sedition or treason despite hints early on in the investigation. But lower-level cases tend to be easier to prosecute and typically get resolved before more complex ones. At least 165 people have pleaded guilty so far, mostly to crimes punishable by a maximum sentence of six months. There are dozens of cases involving more serious offenses still moving through the system.
