Troy SMOCKS, a black defendant who is being sentenced for making threats related to Jan. 6, is using his sentencing hearing to argue that he's being punished more harshly for his crime than white Jan. 6 defendants.
Smocks says he was raised in segregated south and just wants "to be treated equally."
"Brandon Straka ... He was allowed to plead guilty to a class 3 misdemeanor with a $500 fine. Again, he’s a white guy. This is racism."
SMOCKS has been detained since January 15. He has an extensive criminal history. He's about to receive a sentence from Judge Tanya Chutkan.
SMOCKS claimed at start of his remarks that he's the only black Jan. 6 defendant currently jaled. But Chutkan quickly noted that she is presiding over the case of another, Mark Ponder, who was accused of assaulting Capitol police with a baseball bat.
CHUTKAN isn't having it. She says that Smocks encouraged the violent riot to stop transition of power.
"Mr. Smocks now seeks to somehow compare himself and drape himself in the mantle of civil rights. I for one find that offensive ... that is a false equivalence."
CHUTKAN: "People died fighitng for civil rights...People were beaten, they were tortured mentally and physically. For you to hold yourself up as somehow a soldier in that fight is audacious."
SMOCKS gets 14 months. Toughest Jan. 6-related sentence so far — for someone who didn't go into the Capitol.
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Smocks, who has been detained since January, described his upbringing in the segregated south. He invoked MLK and noted some plea deals cut by white rioters like Brandon Straka.
But Chutkan thoroughly rejected his claims. She noted his extensive criminal history and the brazenness of his threats.
“People died fighting for civil rights,” she said. “For you to hold yourself up as somehow a soldier in that fight is audacious.” politico.com/news/2021/10/2…
@joshgerstein@heatherscope THOMPSON lays down a marker — criminal contempt for those who defy committee:
"I want other witnesses to understand something very plainly: if you’re thinking of following the path Mr. Bannon has gone down, you’re on notice that this is what you’ll face" politico.com/news/2021/10/1…
"Mr. Bannon’s and Mr. Trump’s privilege arguments do...appear to reveal 1 thing: they suggest that Pres. Trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of January 6th. And this committee will get to the bottom of that"
JUST IN: The Jan. 6 select committee has released its report and resolution calling for BANNON to be referred to DOJ for criminal contempt charges. docs.house.gov/meetings/IJ/IJ…
The House and Trump both drew from the Mazars ruling to support their cases today >>>
IMPORTANT: As the committee notes, there are *many* subjects lawmakers could ask Bannon about that clearly have no conceivable relationship to 'executive privilege' at all.
Jan. 6 defendant Daniel Rodriguez plans to argue at trial that he was acting under Donald Trump’s authority. That argument has really flown with judges so far.
Rodriguez admitted in an FBI interview that he tased Officer Fanone as he was being dragged through the Jan. 6 mob.
His lawyer tonight says the interview (which she appended to her filing) should be suppressed because he wasn’t properly Mirandized.
Some key passages:
A very important “not” was missing from the above tweet. The argument has not flown with judges.