3 men who fought police and lit up during Jan. 6 riot sentenced - The Washington Post

He and 2 friends brought guns from Las Vegas to D.C., having repeatedly declared their tendency to inhabit the Capitol by force. Armed with a knife, Sandlin pushed his mode to the beforehand of the crowd, got wrong and led clashes with officers guarding a gathering entranceway and the Senate floor. Sandlin tried to propulsion a helmet disconnected 1 serviceman and shoved another; helium stole a publication from a senator’s desk; helium tried to instrumentality an lipid coating and helium smoked marijuana successful the Rotunda. As they fought, helium told officers to tally oregon die.

“I felt similar a quality punching bag, receiving continuous blows from the rioters and being pinned up against the wall,” 1 of those officers said successful a statement to the court. “This time successful my beingness continues to beryllium the worst I’ve ever had to unrecorded done and scars maine to this day.”

In explaining her sentence, Judge Dabney L. Friedrich said Sandlin, “put aggregate officers’ lives astatine risk” and past “celebrated.”

Afterward, Sandlin tried to erase evidence; prosecutors said they lone got entree to his video of the riot due to the fact that Sandlin shared his laptop encryption cardinal connected a recorded jailhouse call.

Sandlin apologized to the officers, lawmakers and predetermination officials, saying they “should ne'er consciousness the menace of governmental violence.” He said helium knew President Biden had won the 2020 predetermination and nary longer supported Donald Trump.

Friedrich, a Trump appointee, said she was unsure whether to judge Sandlin fixed that helium spent implicit a twelvemonth aft his apprehension claiming helium was the unfortunate of a “witch hunt” perpetuated by a biased Justice Department.

Last fall, Sandlin falsely told documentarian Alexandra Pelosi — the girl of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — that constabulary had murdered 2 Trump supporters who died during the riot. As precocious arsenic October, a blimpish blog put retired an entreaty for funds for Sandlin, saying helium “needs your assistance to combat tyranny and a corrupt DOJ.” Sandlin had a court-appointed, taxpayer-funded attorney, Jerry Smith.

“Despite his alteration of heart, it’s truly hard to cognize wherever his caput is close now,” Friedrich said. The justice said she would bid Sandlin to springiness up what is near of the $21,000 helium raised online.

Smith said idiosyncratic who “bought into these cultish, insane conspiracy theories astir the predetermination being stolen” that were “reinforced by politicians, including the president of the United States” would request “a portion to beryllium deprogrammed.” According to Smith, Sandlin’s conversion came during proceedings mentation erstwhile they viewed videos from wrong the Capitol. Sandlin chose to plead blameworthy to assaulting police; connected Friday, helium looked pained arsenic the videos played successful court.

“He’s not trying to presumption himself arsenic immoderate darling of the alt-right successful the future,” Smith said.

Two different men pleaded blameworthy Friday to obstructing Congress, having admitted to throwing fume bombs astatine police, smoking cigarettes wrong the building, and stealing a marker that they utilized to scrawl their marque “Murder the Media” connected a Capitol door.

Nicholas Ochs, 36, of Honolulu, and Nicholas DeCarlo, 32, of Fort Worth, are some affiliated with the far-right Proud Boys movement. Neither expressed contrition; prosecutors noted that DeCarlo had memorialized their vandalism successful a framed photograph successful his apartment.

Ochs, an Army veteran, and DeCarlo, a precocious schoolhouse dropout, said they went to the Capitol to beforehand their caller media task and were swept up successful the crowd.

“Professional journalists don’t propulsion fume bombs to assistance a mob interruption into a unafraid authorities building,” Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell said. “They knew what they were doing, they were not gullible, not manipulated.”

She sentenced them some to 4 years successful prison. Like Friedrich, Howell ordered the defendants to forfeit $7,5oo successful fines from the thousands of dollars they raised online by claiming to beryllium governmental prisoners.

Less than 10 percent of $15,677 that Ochs raised was earmarked for his ineligible fees, portion DeCarlo raised $7,000 portion represented by a court-appointed lawyer, prosecutors said.