Free Republic

WASHINGTON — At least four members of the far-right Proud Boys organization were found guilty Thursday of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Zachary Rehl each faced nine counts, and were found guilty on the rare charge of seditious conspiracy under a Civil War-era statute. They were also found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The jury has only reached a partial verdict, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly said Thursday, and the verdicts on other charges are still being read.

A man who attacked police officers with poles during the riot at the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than five years in prison, matching the longest term of imprisonment so far among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. Mark Ponder, a 56-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., said he “got caught up” in the chaos that erupted on Jan. 6, 2021, and “didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” “I wasn’t thinking that day,” Ponder told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, asking her for mercy before she sentenced him to five years and three months in prison. That...

On Friday, Federal District Judge Amita Mehta ruled that a civil suit alleging a conspiracy to foment the Jan. 6 insurrection could proceed. In an extremely thorough and detailed 112-page ruling, Mehta concluded that the plaintiffs had made a “plausible” case that former President Trump himself was at the center of a conspiracy to stop the peaceful transfer of power. While plausibility is not the same as proven, Mehta’s ruling is the first time such a finding has been made in an official proceeding.

Former President Donald Trump lost a bid Friday to toss lawsuits holding him responsible for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Federal Judge Amit Mehta rejected Trump’s attempt to dismiss the civil cases with a claim that he has absolute immunity because he was in office at the time. “To deny a President immunity from civil damages is no small step,” Mehta wrote in a 112-page ruling. “The court well understands the gravity of its decision. But the alleged facts of this case are without precedent, and the court believes that its decision is consistent with...

A federal judge in Washington, DC, questioned former President Donald Trump's actions during his speech on January 6, 2021, as he considers for the first time whether Trump is immune from liability related to his supporters attacking the US Capitol. During a court hearing Monday, Judge Amit Mehta pointed out repeatedly that Trump on January 6 asked the crowd to march to the Capitol, but that he didn't speak up for two hours asking people to stop the violence. In the year since the US Capitol attack, judges remind us what it means to be American "The words are hard...

A woman who brought her 14-year-old son to the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year will serve three months in jail for illegally parading in the complex during the insurrection, CNN reported Friday.Why it matters: Virginia Spencer and her husband entered a hallway of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices while inside the Capitol, later joining a crowd that attempted to enter the House chamber as lawmakers were still trapped inside, per court documents. Worth noting: It's one of the longer sentences handed to Jan. 6 defendants who face charges for non-violent misdemeanors, CNN notes.Spencer will also be on probation for...

Judge rules against Proud Boys using First Amendment defense in Jan. 6 case A federal judge emphatically rejected the claim by four members of the white nationalist Proud Boys that they were only exercising their First Amendment rights by attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said on Tuesday that the extremists are facing felony charges because they allegedly led a violent effort to overturn the presidential election not for speaking out against supposed election fraud as they claimed. “Defendants are not, as they argue, charged with anything like burning flags, wearing black armbands, or participating...

A Florida man was sentenced to more than five years behind bars Friday for storming the US Capitol on Jan. 6 — the harshest penalty dished out yet over the insurrection. Robert Palmer, 54, was handed a 63-month sentence after he pleaded guilty in October to attacking police officers during the riot. “Your honor. I’m really really ashamed of what I did,” he told US District Judge Tanya Chutkan through sobs on Friday. Federal prosecutors said Palmer, of Largo Florida, was on the “front lines” of the mob attempting to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020...

A U.S. district judge on Wednesday issued a sentence against a couple who took part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that went beyond what prosecutors recommended, giving them jail time. The Department of Justice (DOJ) had asked that Brandon Miller and his wife Stephanie Miller be sentenced to home confinement as part of a 36-month probationary period. The Ohio couple was charged with entering the Capitol, with Brandon Miller livestreaming their actions on Facebook. As WUSA reported, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled, however, that their actions warranted time behind bars. "They didn’t just walk through a door. They...