US justice sentenced the first Capitol robber to eight months in prison

A federal court ruled on Monday the first prison sentence for the assault on the United States Congress on January 6, by ordering the imprisonment of eight months of one of the people prosecuted for this event, who had pleaded guilty.

The condemned man is Paul Allard Hodgkins, one of the hundreds of supporters of the former president Donald Asset (2017-2021) that day they broke into Congress in an attempt to prevent formal session ratification of the results of the presidential election of November 2020.

The Ministry of Justice is continuing the investigation and preparing the prosecution of hundreds of people identified as having participated in the seditious act, which left 5 dead and 140 injured.

Hodgkins, a Florida resident who entered the Senate in the assault carrying a Trump flag, He told the audience he was carried away by the enthusiasm of the crowd.

“If I had had the idea that the protest was going to intensify as it did, I would never have ventured” to continue, he said, in addition to acknowledging that entering the Capitol was “a stupid decision”.

The accused pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction in official proceedings, a crime for which he could have received a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

With this acknowledgment of guilt, prosecutors dropped other charges, including unauthorized entry into a restricted building and disorderly conduct.

The prosecution recommended a prison sentence of 18 months in view of the fact that the accused had accepted responsibility for his actions on 6 January and that he nevertheless had voluntarily participated in the assault.

Federal judge Randolph Moss, in passing sentence, he appreciated the repentance expressed by Hodkings, but called the events of January 6 “cooling”. “It was by no means a protest,” added the judge. It was an attack on democracy. It left a stain that will remain on all of us in the country for years and years ”.

“When a crowd is ready to attack the Capitol to prevent elected officials from both parties from fulfilling their constitutional and statutory duty, democracy is in danger.“, He added.

Regarding Hodgkins’ actions, the judge ruled that “he was claiming in the plenary session of the United States Senate, and not with the American flag, but with a flag that declared its allegiance to one individual above the whole nation”.

Another point that influenced the application of a lesser penalty is that Hodgkins was not involved in any of the acts of violence during the assault on the Capitol.

The Deputy Prosecutor, Mona Sedky, said that although Hodgkins was not directly involved in any act of violence, she did walk with others who participated in what she described as “The looting of the Maison du Peuple.”

In this way, Moss’s resolution, and his approach, could establish a point of reference for the other cases which are in the Justice for the troubles at the Capitol.

In all there are around 550 indicted assailants, and the Justice Department has said at least 230 of them have been charged with the same obstruction offense to which Hodgkins pleaded guilty.

With the opposition of almost all Republicans, the Democratic majority in the US House of Representatives succeeded on June 30 in creating a commission of inquiry the assault on the Capitol on January 6.

All 220 Democratic lawmakers voted for a law to create the commission, while only two Republicans (Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger) broke ranks with their party leadership and supported the initiative. The rest of the conservatives -190-, they said “no” to the commission of inquiry into the assault, which left five dead and around 140 police officers injured.

The objective of the committee will be clarify why the assault happened, who is responsible and what can be done to prevent another similar event. The entity will be composed of 13 members: eight appointed by Nancy Pelosi and five elected by the leader of the Republican minority in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, although the Democratic leader can veto her rival’s nominations.

(With information from EFE)

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