[ad_1]
Paul Hodgkins, a 38-year-old Floridian, is now the first Capitol Hill rioter accused of a crime to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty last month to obstructing congressional procedures, particularly the counting of the electoral votes, which he helped delay by storming the Senate chamber on January 6. .
The sentence is less than the 1.5 year sentence requested by the Ministry of Justice. Hodgkins was looking for probation.
Federal District Judge Randolph Moss said Hodgkins contributed to a serious anti-democracy offense but deserved some leniency as he pleaded guilty “exceptionally early” in the process and was not involved in any of the January 6 violence. . Nonetheless, Moss condemned Hodgkins’ actions.
“He claimed the floor of the United States Senate, not with the American flag but with a flag declaring his loyalty to one individual across the nation,” Moss said.
“When a mob is ready to attack the Capitol to prevent elected officials from both parties from fulfilling their constitutional and statutory duty, democracy is in trouble … the damage they caused that day far outweighs the delays that day This is damage that will linger in this country for decades to come.
Moss – and his reasoning – could serve as a benchmark for other cases of the Capitol riots. Nearly 550 rioters have been charged in total, and the Justice Department says at least 230 of them have been charged with the same crime of obstruction to which Hodgkins pleaded guilty.
This story is out and will be updated.
[ad_2]
Source link