WASHINGTON —
Over the past four years, federal court judges in Washington have punished hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol of the United States in an unprecedented assault on the country’s democracy. On the eve of the upcoming presidential elections, some of those judges fear that another outbreak of political violence could come.
Before recently sentencing a protester to prison, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he prays that Americans accept the outcome of next month’s election. But the veteran judge expressed concern that Donald Trump and his allies are spreading the same type of conspiracy theories that fueled the Jan. 6, 2021, mob riot.
“That sore loser is saying the same things he said before,” Walton said earlier this month without mentioning the Republican presidential candidate by name. “He’s angering the troops again, so if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s not inconceivable that we could experience that same situation again. And who knows? “It could be worse.”
Walton, nominated by President George W. Bush, is not alone. Other judges have said the political climate is ripe for another attack like the one that injured more than 100 police officers at the Capitol. As Election Day approaches, judges frequently emphasize the need to send a message beyond their courts that political violence cannot be tolerated.
“It scares me to think about what will happen if anyone on either side is unhappy with the results of the election,” Judge Jia Cobb, nominated by President Joe Biden, said during a sentencing hearing last month for four of participants in the Capitol riots.
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In Photos | Pro-Trump protesters force their way into the Capitol
Judge Rudolph Contreras lamented the possibility of more politically motivated violence as he sentenced a Colorado man, Jeffrey Sabol, who helped others drag a police officer into the mob. Sabol later told FBI agents that “a call to battle was announced” and that he had “answered the call because he was a patriotic warrior.”
“It doesn’t take much imagination to imagine that a similar call will be made in the coming months, and the court would be concerned that Sabol would respond to that call in the same way,” Contreras said in March before sentencing Sabol to more than five years. of prison. Sabol was nominated by President Barack Obama.
Trump’s distortion of the January 6 attack has been a cornerstone of his bid to retake the White House. The former president has denied any responsibility for the crimes of supporters who broke windows, assaulted police officers and forced lawmakers into hiding as they met to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
Trump has promised to pardon the rioters, whom he calls “patriots” and “hostages,” if he wins in November. And he said he would accept the results of the next election only if they are “free and fair,” raising doubts reminiscent of his baseless claims in 2020.
The justices have repeatedly used their platform on the court to denounce such efforts to downplay the Jan. 6 violence and portray rioters as political prisoners. And some have expressed concern about what that rhetoric means for the future of the country and its democracy.
“We are in a really difficult time in our country and I hope we can survive,” Walton said this month while sentencing a Tennessee nurse who used a pair of medical scissors to break a glass door at the Capitol.
“I have a little daughter, I have a little grandson and I would like the United States to be available to them and be as good to them as it has been to me,” he added. “But I don’t know if we will survive with the mentality that took place that day.”
More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 siege, which disrupted the peaceful transfer of presidential power for the first time in the nation’s history. More than 1,000 defendants have been convicted and sentenced. About 650 of them received prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years.
Justice Department prosecutors have argued in many cases that a prison sentence is necessary to deter convicted Capitol rioters from engaging in further politically motivated violence.
“With the 2024 presidential election approaching and many strong voices in the media, online attacks continue to sow discord and mistrust, and the possibility of a repeat of January 6 looms ominously,” prosecutors have repeatedly warned. in documents presented to the court.
Prosecutors argue that defendants who have shown little or no remorse for their actions on Jan. 6 could break the law again. Some rioters even seem proud of their crimes.
The first person to enter the Capitol texted his mother: “I’ll be back if I get the chance.” A Washington state man who stormed the Capitol with other members of the extremist group Proud Boys told a judge: “You can give me 100 years and I would do it again.” A Kentucky nurse who joined the riot told a television interviewer that “I would do it again tomorrow.”
A Colorado woman known to her social media followers as the “January 6 Prayer Grandma” avoided a prison sentence in August when a magistrate convicted her of disorderly conduct and trespassing on Capitol grounds. Rebecca Lavrenz told the judge that God, not Trump, brought her to Washington on January 6.
“And he’s pretty much promised to do it all over again,” prosecutor Terence Parker said.
Prosecutors had requested 10 months in prison. After his conviction in the April trial, Lavrenz went on a “media blitz” to defend the mob, spread misinformation, undermine trust in the courts and increase his celebrity in a community that believes January 6 “was a Good day for this country,” Parker said.
Magistrate Zia Faruqui sentenced Lavrenz to six months of house arrest and fined her $103,000, underscoring the need to “turn down the volume” before the next election.
“These outside influences, the people who are destroying our country, are not going to help you,” Faruqui told him.
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