Thread by @ZoeTillman

Hello from Judge Tanya Chutkan's virtual courtroom, where sentencing is underway for Jan. 6 def Matthew Mazzocco, who pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2098…

"The capital is ours!" s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2107…

Govt is seeking 3 mos of home confinement + probation: s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2106…

"...expressions of contrition are belied by text messages sent to family and friends shortly after the event"

Chutkan chastizes Mazzocco's lawyer for filing their memo under seal w/out getting permission — defense says they had concern about letters from friends/family being public, since at an early court hearing a member of media took a pic of him appearing by video against court rules

Probation office recc'd 18 mos probation (judge briefly misspoke and said 18 mos of prison). AUSA is up first to explain why Mazzocco's case rises to level of home confinement but not incarceration, although she notes at the start that for Jan. 6, prison is always appropriate

AUSA Kimberley Nielsen, talking about need for deterrence, argues punitive sentences are needed because Jan. 6 is something that could happen again, Congress will meet in the future to certify elections. She notes other judges have said probation is *not* the default for Jan. 6

Mazzocco took photos of rioters breaching the Capitol, and then decided to still go in, Nielsen says — he would have seen destruction inside and still kept going, would have understood people were there "to stop our democracy," she says

Mazzocco had a body-worn camera and it looked like he was filming, but Nielsen says they never found it and Mazzocco told agents he didn't know where it was.

On the other hand, AUSA says he gets credit as one of first 10 Capitol rioters to accept responsibilty

Mazzocco's atty says he's very nervous so he wrote a letter for her to read in lieu of him speaking: "First, I need to apologize to the court, to the United States government, my family, and the people of Washington, DC."

She continues reading: "My decision to enter into the Capitol was one of the most foolish and impulsive decisions I've made in my life," that he went in out of curiosity and not to harm anyone. He wrote about the toll on his family, saying they've received threats and harassment

Defense atty Robbie Ward says the selfie with the caption "The capital is ours!" was before he went inside, not after. She notes there's video of him inside telling people not to damage things

Mazzocco speaks briefly: He says he knows ppl will sometimes say whatever it takes to get out of trouble, but wants Chutkan to know the letter was sincere. "I know that I made a big mistake and I cannot undo that," apologizes to the country and everyone affected

Judge Chutkan is up, begins by saying that although many defs like Mazzocco have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors so far, the court views their participation as anything but "petty."

"That mob was trying to overthrow the government," she says.

Chutkan: "Flatly disagree" Jan. 6 rioters are being treated unfairly compared to protests after the murder of George Floyd — though some ppl were violent last year, it's a "false equivalency" to compare ppl protesting for civil rights to violent mob seeking to overthrow the govt

Chutkan says Mazzocco made a choice to go inside, to document chaos around him as "entertainment," later bragged about it.

He didn't go to the Capitol for love of country, she says: "He went there to support one man ... in total disregard of a lawfully conducted election"

Chutkan isn't giving a lot of weight to Mazzocco's early plea, saying he only showed remorse after it became clear he could face prison time for what he did

Chutkan on need for deterrence: "The country is watching to see what the consequences are for something that has not ever happened in the history of this country before. For actions and crimes that threaten to undermine the rule of law and our democracy."

Re: his personal background, Chutkan says she notes strong family support — but as a former public defender, she knows that good people, beloved sons/fathers/members of the community, can do bad things. And she notes his support system didn't stop him from joining the mob

Now: A judge sentenced Capitol rioter Matthew Mazzocco to 45 days in prison, rejecting defense ask for probation *and* govt recc of home confinement.

"There have to be consequences for participating in an attempted violent overthrow of the government, beyond sitting at home."

Probation officer asks to confirm the judge did not intend to also impose probation, Chutkan says that's right, she thinks incarceration is "sufficiently severe" and addl supervision after isn't a good use of already-taxed resources, she thinks Mazzocco has learned his lesson

"There have to be consequences for participating in an attempted violent overthrow of the government, beyond sitting at home."

A judge today sentenced a Capitol rioter to 45 days in prison, rejecting the government's lighter recommendation. Story:
buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Matthew Mazzocco is the 12th person to face sentencing after pleading guilty to participating in the Jan. 6 riots, and the 6th to get prison time. It's the first case where a judge imposed a more severe sentence than what the govt requested: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Of the previous five defendants to receive sentences with prison time, two were already in pretrial detention and effectively received terms of time-served; the other three received sentences below what the govt had asked for buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Judge Tanya Chutkan also blasted a narrative that's emerged among some conservatives that Capitol rioters are being treated unfairly compared to people who joined last summer's protests against racism and police brutality: "I flatly disagree." buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…

Chutkan said it was true that some protesters last year engaged in violence, but she called it a "false equivalency" to compare people demonstrating for civil rights to a "violent mob" trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power after an election buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…