Up next, a sentencing hearing starts now for Jonathan Ace Sanders before Judge Carl Nichols. Class "B" misdemeanor. The government is asking for 2 months of home detention as part of a 3-year period of probation. Also 60 hours of community service. #CapitolRiot@wusa9
DOJ says Jonathan Ace Sanders witnessed people smashing in windows, tear gas and flash bangs going off and a "chain of Oath Keepers snaking in through the doors."
"Despite all this, the defendant chose to enter the Rotunda doors propped open by a rioter."
DOJ also notes Sanders is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, during which time he earned, among other distinctions, a Purple Heart. That service should be respected, they say.
"One other thing in his favor: He had no social media posts we could locate," the DOJ says.
In short: Never tweet.
Sanders' attorney says since the very first day he began representing him, he has fully expressed sadness and remorse for what happened on January 6.
Sanders' attorney says he has demonstrated a lifetime of service to his country, his family and, until January 6, to the Constitution. Says he raised two fine children and is currently helping raise his 1-year-old granddaughter. Both he and his wife served in the military.
Jonathan Ace Sanders is speaking now. Says much of his military service was spent on a reconnaissance air crew. He received a lot of training as a result. "The crux of that training was that, when you find yourself in a situation, you can control your emotions."
"You use logic, reason and thought to analyze that situation, develop options and select the best option to extricate yourself from that situation. On January 6, I failed that training. I failed those years of experience, and I allowed my emotions to guide my actions."
"I wasn't coerced. I wasn't tricked. I wasn't pushed into it. That was my failure," Jonathan Ace Sanders says.
"I apologize to my family, my friends, my military brothers and sisters. I was my failure and my failure alone," Sanders says.
Judge Nichols is taking a short recess before he announces his decision.
Back on the record.
"The events of January 6 were extremely serious," Judge Nichols says. "Though there's no evidence Mr. Sanders engaged in [violence], it should have been obvious he was joining a violent riot."
Judge Nicholas says he doesn't think Jonathan Sanders, a 61-year-old Air Force veteran who lives in a small town in Indiana, is at a high risk of reoffending. Still, must consider seriousness of the offense.
🚨SENTENCE: Judge Carl Nichols sentences Jonathan Ace Sanders, of Indiana, to 3 years of probation + $500 in restitution on one misdemeanor count of parading inside the Capitol on January 6. 60 hours of community service. No period of home detention. #CapitolRiot@wusa9@WTHRcom
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Jenna Ryan's sentencing hearing starts at 10 a.m. before Judge Christopher Cooper. The DOJ says she should serve 60 days in jail. Her attorney is asking for probation. My live-tweet of the hearing will start here. #CapitolRiot@wusa9
Of special note: This is the first January 6 sentencing hearing since Chief Judge Howell laid out her (high) standards for sending misdemeanor #CapitolRiot defendants to jail last week. Well see how Judge Cooper may factor that in. google.com/amp/s/www.wusa…
Jenna Ryan has arrived at court for her sentencing.
People want, and can now have, information sources that conform to and reinforce their world views. All reverting to this imaginary model of journalism old schoolers swear once existed would do is perpetuate historical blind spots while not winning a single reader back.
Case in point: The volcanic rage of Fox News viewers after they (accurately!) called Arizona for Joe Biden.
I think we should report facts! I think we should rigorously fact-check them! But more facts aren't going to win back readers who simply reject information they disagree with. People lined up yesterday to see JFK come back to life! What facts haven't we given them?
Switching over to a hearing before Judge Lamberth about the ongoing medical situation w/ Proud Boy Christopher Worrell in the DC Jail. The latest on that: wusa9.com/article/news/n…
Judge Lamberth now talking about the US Marshals' inspection of the DC Jail. He says the Marshals did not find that conditions in CTF (where #CapitolRiot defendants are being held) are not egregious, just that they're not as egregious as the main jail. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
"... conditions at the CTF 'were observed to be largely appropriate and consistent with federal prisoner detention standards,' and that the problems were primarily in the main jail."
For those following #CapitolRiot cases, January 6 defendants are being held at the CTF.
Ironically, the surprise inspection of the D.C. Jail instigated by complaints of unequal treatment from #CapitolRiot defendants appears to show they're actually being held in much better conditions than the general population at the main facility. washingtonpost.com/local/public-s…
As expected, Proud Boy Christopher Worrell's attorney, Alex Stavrou, has filed a motion asking for bond review. Stavrou claims D.C. Jail has been delaying "necessary and lifesaving medical attention. But, the docs he filed show Worrell has pushed back appointments. #CapitolRiot
Last month, a federal judge held two D.C. Department of Corrections officials in contempt over their failure to turn over medical notes to him about a surgery for a broken pinky finger. Worrell claimed the surgery was necessary because of the jail's delay. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
Last week, the DOJ filed its own batch of records, including an interview with Christopher Worrell's doctor in which he said Worrell had "invented" statements from him and had demanded the surgery against his advice. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
We'll be back in Chief Judge Beryl Howell's (virtual) courtroom shortly for the sentencing of Eric Torrens, another Class "B" misdemeanor case. Based on her sentence just now for Leonard Gruppo, and yesterday for Torrens' co-defendant Jack Griffith, probation only seems likely.
ICYMI: Yesterday Chief Judge Howell laid into the DOJ over their "muddled" and "schizophrenic" approach to sentencing in #CapitolRiot cases. She said she felt her hands were tied by their recommendations that other misdemeanor defendants get probation. wusa9.com/article/news/n…
The conversation between Chief Judge Howell and the DOJ about sentencing continues. Howell says it's incumbent upon the government to explain their sentencing thought process.