Washington:
A Florida man who breached the US Senate chamber for the duration of the violent January 6 Capitol riots was jailed for eight months Monday, in the closely-watched initial sentencing hearing for an individual convicted of a felony more than the attack.
Paul Hodgkins, 38, illegally entered the Capitol — the citadel of US democracy in Washington — with eye goggles, rope and latex gloves as members of Congress gathered for a vote certifying the victory of president-elect Joe Biden, court documents mentioned.
Hodgkins, who was identified in photographs brandishing a Trump campaign flag in the Senate, had admitted obstructing congressional proceedings.
The sentence is 10 months shorter than the Justice Department requested. Prosecutors acknowledged, having said that, that Hodgkins “did not personally engage in or espouse violence or property destruction.”
“He accepted responsibility early and in a fulsome manner,” court documents study.
Hundreds of supporters of then-president Donald Trump, lots of related with ultra-nationalist and white supremacist groups, stormed the US legislature on January 6 to halt Biden’s confirmation.
They had been egged on by Trump, whose fiery speech falsely claiming election fraud was the culmination of months of lies about a contest he lost relatively to Biden.
A comfy majority of 57 senators — like seven from his personal party — voted to convict Trump soon after he was impeached by the House for inciting the riot, though this fell brief of the two-thirds majority expected beneath Senate guidelines to unseat a president.
Hodgkins spent significantly less than half an hour inside the Capitol, court documents added, stopping to take “‘selfie-style’ photographs” inside the Senate chamber.
As the initial rioter facing prison time soon after getting convicted of a felony, Hodgkins’ case is getting seen as a doable bellwether for the prospects of other felons convicted more than the attack.
More than 535 protesters have been arrested with the investigation ongoing, and at least 165 men and women have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement.
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