A Florida man who took House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s podium and posed for photos during the uprising on Capitol Hill has been sentenced to more than two months in prison.
The photo of Adam Johnson, smiling and waving his arm while charging the podium, went viral after the pro-Trump mob attack on January 6, 2021.
Johnson set up the podium in the center of the Capitol Rotunda, posed for photos and pretended to make a speech, prosecutors said.
After returning home, Johnson bragged about “breaking the internet” and becoming “finally famous.” Prosecutors argued that his actions on Capitol Hill “illustrate his sense of entitlement and privilege.”
“The now viral podium photo portrays a confident, evidently jubilant Johnson taking government property for his own use during an unlawful siege,” a prosecutor wrote.
Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Johnson to 75 days in prison followed by a year of supervised release. The judge ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service. Johnson will serve the prison sentence from a date to be determined.
Johnson told the judge that posing with Pelosi’s podium was a “very stupid idea.”
“I don’t hold the slightest grudge against her or her office,” Johnson said.
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