Eliana Willis

Biden to speak ‘truth’ on Capitol attack anniversary as Trump cancels his eventPresident will honor police in his remarks while Republicans voiced concerns about Trump overshadowing the somber day Joe Biden will mark the first anniversary of the deadly assault at the US Capitol this Thursday by honoring the bravery of law enforcement on the scene, and outlining the unfinished work the nation needs to do to strengthen its democracy, the White House said in its first preview of the president’s remarks.“On Thursday, the president is going to speak to the truth of what happened, not the lies that some have spread since, and the peril it has posed to the rule of law and our system of democratic governance,” the White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.The preview came as Donald Trump announced he was cancelling his own anniversary event, a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that had been scheduled for the evening of 6 January. Several Republicans had expressed concerns about Trump’s news conference overshadowing the somber day.The former president blasted the House committee investigating the 6 January insurrection, which continues its work and on Tuesday issued a letter seeking the cooperation of the Fox New host Sean Hannity, who exchanged messages with Trump and his chief of staff Mark Meadows in the days leading up to the attack.Capitol attack panel seeks cooperation from Fox News host Sean HannityRead moreIn a statement, Trump said that he was cancelling his conference “in light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media” at Mar-a-Lago, and would address the issue instead at a rally on 15 January.Biden and Kamala Harris will speak on Thursday morning at the US Capitol, one year after a mob loyal to Trump raided the complex in a failed attempt to stop the counting of electoral college votes that officially delivered Biden’s election victory.Trump, fellow Republicans and rightwing media personalities have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the attack, calling it a nonviolent protest or blaming leftwing activists. Four people died on the day of the riot, and one Capitol police officer died the day after defending Congress. Dozens of police were injured during the multi-hour onslaught by Trump supporters, and four officers have since taken their own lives.Biden will put an extra spotlight on the role of Capitol police and others on the scene, Psaki said.“Because of their efforts, our democracy withstood an attack from a mob, and the will of more than 150 million people who voted in the presidential election was ultimately registered by Congress,” Psaki said.Psaki was asked what the president’s message will be to the many Republicans who believe Biden stole the election from Trump, despite overwhelming contrary evidence.“What he’s going to continue to do is speak to everyone in the country. Those who didn’t vote for him, those who may not believe he is the legitimate president, about what he wants to do to make their lives better,” Psaki said.TopicsUS Capitol attackJoe BidenDonald TrumpUS politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

Capitol attack panel seeks cooperation from Fox News host Sean HannityCommittee requests answers from Hannity about communications with Donald Trump before, on and after day of 6 January attack The US House of Representatives panel investigating the deadly attack on the US Capitol last January is seeking cooperation from Sean Hannity, the Fox News host and one of Donald Trump’s closest allies in the media, as the committee continues to widen its scope.Congressman Bennie Thompson, the chair of the committee, and vice-chair Liz Cheney have requested that Hannity answer questions in relation to communications between Hannity and the former president, as well as the former president’s chief of staff Mark Meadows, and others in the days leading up to the attack, the day itself and in the aftermath.In a letter to Hannity, made public on Tuesday, Thompson and Cheney wrote: “The Select Committee now has information in its possession, as outlined in part below, indicating that you had advance knowledge regarding President Trump’s and his legal team’s planning for January 6th.Will the hundreds of Capitol rioters in court ever be held truly accountable?Read more“It also appears that you were expressing concerns and providing advice to the President and certain White House staff regarding that planning. You also had relevant communications while the riot was underway, and in the days thereafter. These communications make you a fact witness in our investigation.”The House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection revealed last month that Hannity and other Fox News hosts had messaged Meadows during the attack. Hannity has been a major supporter of Trump on his Fox show, as well as an adviser to the former president.“Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol?” Hannity texted Meadows during the attack, the recently released records show. The anchor has avoided publicly blaming Trump for riling up the crowd that then attacked the Capitol.In his letter, Thompson said that the committee has “immense respect for the First Amendment to our Constitution, freedom of the press, and the rights of Americans to express their political opinions freely”, and did not intend to seek information regarding Hannity’s broadcasts.However, the chairman said, the committee also has a responsibility to investigate the dozens of text messages it has in its possession, dating from 31 December 2020 to 20 January 2021, between Hannity, Trump and Meadows regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and Trump’s failed efforts to contest it.One specific December 2020 text from Hannity to Meadows highlighted in the letter reads: “I do NOT see January 6 happening the way he is being told. After the 6 th. (sic) He should announce will lead the nationwide effort to reform voting integrity. Go to Fl and watch Joe mess up daily. Stay engaged. When he speaks people will listen.”The letter to Hannity also highlights texts from the night before the insurrection, including one in which Hannity said he was “very worried about the next 48 hours” and another to Meadows in which he wrote, “Pence pressure. WH counsel will leave.” The letter says it appears from other text messages that Hannity may have spoken directly with Trump on 5 January regarding planning for the following day.Hannity had previously criticized the violence that took place nearly a year ago at the Capitol. But he’s also been sharply critical of the committee and its work, saying after his texts were revealed: “We’ve been telling you that this is a waste of your time and money. They have a predetermined outcome.”A Fox News spokesperson declined to comment on the request. Jay Sekulow, Hannity’s lawyer, told the Associated Press on Tuesday night that they are reviewing the committee’s letter and “will respond as appropriate”.The request is the first by the nine-member panel to a member of the media and opens a new door for the investigation as it widens its scope to any and all people who were in contact with the former president and his inner circle in the time surrounding the attack.The committee says the extraordinary trove of material it has collected 35,000 pages of records so far, including texts, emails and phone records from people close to Trump is fleshing out critical details of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries, which played out on live television.As the House prepares to commemorate the anniversary of the attack Thursday, the panel, which commenced its work last summer, has already interviewed nearly 300 people and issued subpoenas to more than 40 as it seeks to create a comprehensive record of the attack and the events leading up to it.Thompson said about 90% of the witnesses called by the committee have cooperated despite the defiance of high-profile Trump allies such as Meadows and Steve Bannon.Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will mark the anniversary this Thursday with speeches, alongside a slate of commemorative events.On Monday, meanwhile, Donald Trump announced he was cancelling his own press conference on the day, blaming the House committee.“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said.TopicsUS Capitol attackSean HannityUS politicsDonald TrumpnewsReuse this content More

‘Patriots’ are undermining American democracyMichael HarriotThe people who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January don’t understand that nationalism is not the same as patriotism There is a more accurate term than insurrectionists to describe the people who stormed the US Capitol building on 6 January, forever smearing the seat of the American republic with fear and fascism.Although their activities inspired terror and were planned in part by members of white supremacist groups, they object to being labeled as “terrorists” or “white supremacists”. Calling them “rioters” doesn’t quite capture the political motivations of the pro-authoritarian mob of Maga fanatics. Perhaps we should view them as historical re-enactors. After all, they were only recreating the effort to undermine democracy, freedom and the US constitution that has repeated itself for centuries. Yet, if you asked them, they would undoubtedly say they were “patriots”.Kyle Rittenhouse wasn’t convicted because, in America, white reasoning rules | Michael HarriotRead moreThroughout the course of American history, whenever this country has found itself standing on the unthinkable precipice of ruin, there has always been a horde pledging their allegiance to the flag while clamoring to push the country into the abyss. To be clear, there is a difference between loving one’s country and the vainglorious virtue-signaling that defines America’s most self-righteously toxic misnomer. But fanaticism does not prove one’s devotion. Nationalism is not the same as patriotism.In his 1861 Cornerstone Speech describing the “revolution” that still stands as the bloodiest war in the history of this continent, Confederate States of America vice-president Alexander H Stephens crowed that he had never met “an abler, wiser, a more conservative, deliberate, determined, resolute, and patriotic body of men” than those who would rather rip their nation in half than discontinue their for-profit human trafficking enterprise. Five years later, the conquered confederacy of traitors would unite to form the Ku Klux Klan, an “institution of chivalry, humanity, mercy and patriotism … noble in sentiment, generous in manhood and patriotic in purpose.”Alabama governor George Wallace defended segregation as a matter of patriotism. When South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957, he wondered why the people of the north would pick on the “patriotic” people who simply wanted to preserve white supremacy. After he switched parties in protest of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he was embraced by the new “lilywhite” Republicans as a “patriot”. The Tea Party patriots tossed racial slurs at John Lewis, while at least two people have been killed at rallies organized by the far-right group Patriot Prayer.There is nothing more unpatriotic than someone who calls themself a “patriot”. The flag-waving hypocrites who proudly proclaim their loyalty to their country are determined to kill America. Since the 2020 election, at least 19 states have passed 33 laws that make it harder to vote. These legislative acts of voter suppression are largely introduced and passed by adherents to Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement that now includes a considerable share of the GOP’s constituency. Although these “America first” acolytes claim to want to make their country great again, their real end game is to destroy any semblance of a government where white people’s voting power is equal to their share of the electorate. In other words, the principal goal of the so-called Patriot Party is the opposite of democracy.These America-mongers perform patriotism while disregarding the actual values of their country. They will proudly recite the pledge of allegiance while demonizing Black Lives Matter protesters, reform-seekers or any movement that promotes liberty and justice for all. In Arizona, armed members of the Montezuma County Patriots were charged with harassing participants in a Walk for Justice and Peace. The trial begins days after the white supremacist group Patriot Front organized a rally in Washington. At least three deaths are associated with Patriot Prayer, another pro-Trump gang that staged violent demonstrations across the country.They have constructed a parody of a pro-life movement that does everything it can to strip rights and life away from their fellow Americans. Archbishop Timothy P Broglio, head of the US Archdiocese for the Military Services, claimed that forcing women to carry out unwanted pregnancies is an “authentic act of patriotism”. A true lover of democracy would accept stricter gun laws favored by most Americans. Instead, these performance artists made the National Rifle Association the official partner of school shootings by casting their uncompromising support for firearm manufacturers as an act of patriotism. They claim critical race theory makes kids feel bad and hate America. Yet, they are somehow willing to trade the lives of social studies students for gun industry profits. Whether it’s back-alley abortions or the spilled blood of second-graders, patriots have never cared about life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness.Besides being unapologetically pro-death, they are unrepentant liars. They spread conspiracy theories and reject the scientific research of climatologists, immunologists and criminologists, ignoring the death and destruction caused by climate change, Covid-19 and the criminal justice system. They push the false notions of illegal immigration, crime and widespread voter fraud, fully knowing the consequences of their fearmongering. Their obstruction of the 6 January House committee proves it. Their text messages prove it. Their own recounts prove it. Math, history, science, and the entire English language prove that they have no use for truth, facts or evidence. This historically inaccurate, mathematically incorrect caricature of patriotism is white nationalism wrapped in a star-spangled banner.If the American empire ever falls – and it will – we can thank the patriots for the demise of democracy. Ultimately, these fanatical jingoists are the least patriotic people in America. They detest democracy and loathe any prospect of a more perfect union. They have pledged their allegiance to the flag, but not the republic for which it stands. Patriotism as performance is their only protection because a country that provides liberty and justice for all is too unbearable a thought.They’d rather kill it first.
Michael Harriot is a writer and author of the upcoming book Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America
TopicsUS newsOpinionUS politicsUS Capitol attacknewsReuse this content More

From Kremlin leak to sperm counts: our readers’ favourite stories of 2021 Here are 20 articles that may have helped convince people to support the Guardian’s journalismThe Guardian benefited from hundreds of thousands of acts of support from digital readers in 2021 – almost one for every minute of the year. Here we look at the articles from 2021 that had a big hand in convincing readers to support our open, independent journalism.Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House – Luke Harding, Julian Borger and Dan SabbaghExclusive leak reveals Moscow’s deliberations on how it might help Donald Trump win 2016 US presidential race‘We are witnessing a crime against humanity’ – Arundhati RoyThe author and activist plumbs the depths of India’s Covid catastrophe and finds much to reproach the prime minister, Narendra Modi, for‘I’m facing a prison sentence’: US Capitol rioters plead with Trump for pardons – Oliver MilmanThe past very quickly catches up with those who ransacked the seat of US democracyClimate crisis: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse – Damian CarringtonA shutdown of the Atlantic current circulation system would have catastrophic consequences around the worldAn Afghan woman in Kabul: ‘Now I have to burn everything I achieved’ – A Kabul residentAs the Taliban take the Afghan capital, one woman describes being “a victim of a war that men started”.Plummeting sperm counts, shrinking penises: toxic chemicals threaten humanity – Erin BrockovichA warning from the environmental advocate and author about the damage being wrought by toxic chemicalsPandora papers: biggest ever leak of offshore data exposes financial secrets of rich and powerful – Guardian investigations teamMillions of documents reveal deals and assets of more than 100 billionaires, 30 world leaders and 300 public officialsThe Hill We Climb: the poem that stole the inauguration show – Amanda GormanShe spoke, and millions listened, at Joe Biden’s inaugurationRates of Parkinson’s disease are exploding. A common chemical may be to blame – Adrienne MateiIs an epidemic on the horizon? And is an unpronounceable chemical compound to blame?Capitalism is killing the planet – it’s time to stop buying into our own destruction – George MonbiotThe Guardian columnist at his most incandescent‘Take it easy, nothing matters in the end’: William Shatner at 90, on love, loss and Leonard Nimoy – Hadley FreemanThe actor discusses longevity, tragedy, friendship, success and his Star Trek co-star‘Our biggest challenge? Lack of imagination’: the scientists turning the desert green – Steve RoseIn China, scientists have turned vast swathes of arid land into a lush oasis. Now a team of maverick engineers want to do the same to the SinaiOff-road, off-grid: the modern nomads wandering America’s back country – Stevie TrujilloAcross US public lands thousands of people are taking to van lifeThe greatest danger for the US isn’t China. It’s much closer to home – Robert ReichThe columnist and former secretary of labour warns of enemies withinThe rice of the sea: how a tiny grain could change the way humanity eats – Ashifa KassamCelebrated chef discovered something in the seagrass that could transform our understanding of the sea itself – as a vast gardenRevealed: leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon – Guardian staffThe Guardian teams up with 16 media organisations around the world to investigate hacking software sold by the Israeli surveillance company NSO GroupBeware: Gaia may destroy humans before we destroy the Earth – James LovelockLegendary environmentalist argues that Covid-19 may well have been one attempt by the planet to protect itself, and that next time it may try harder with something even nastierThe Rosenbergs were executed for spying in 1953. Can their sons reveal the truth? – Hadley FreemanEthel and Julius Rosenberg were sent to the electric chair for being Soviet spies, but their sons have spent decades trying to clear their mother’s name. Are they close to a breakthrough?Out of thin air: the mystery of the man who fell from the sky – Sirin KaleWho was the stowaway who fell from the wheel well of a Boeing plane into a south London garden in the summer of 2019?The life and tragic death of John Eyers – a fitness fanatic who refused the vaccine – Sirin KaleThe 42-year-old did triathlons, bodybuilding and mountain climbing and became sceptical of the Covid jab. Then he contracted the virusIf these pieces move you to support our independent journalism into 2022, you can do so here:
Make a contribution from just £1
Become a digital subscriber and get something in return for your money
Join as a Patron to fund us at a higher level
TopicsRussiaInside the GuardianDonald TrumpVladimir PutinCoronavirusIndiaUS Capitol attackClimate crisisfeaturesReuse this content More

Georgia debunks Trump claim that 5,000 dead people voted in 2020State officials confirm four cases, and all involved family members submitting votes for the deceased

Robert Reich: 6 January shows we must answer neofascism
Donald Trump has claimed 5,000 dead people voted in 2020 in Georgia, a key state he lost to Joe Biden on his way to national defeat.Capitol panel to investigate Trump call to Willard hotel in hours before attackRead moreHe was off by 4,996.As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Monday, state officials have confirmed four cases of dead people voting.All involved family members submitting votes for the deceased, cases in which the state has the power to levy fines.In one case detailed by the paper, a widow submitted an absentee ballot for her husband after he died in September, two months before polling day.An attorney for the 74-year-old woman reportedly told officials her husband “was going to vote Republican, and she said, ‘Well, I’m going to cancel your ballot because I’m voting Democrat.’ It was kind of a joke between them. She received the absentee ballot and carried out his wishes.“She now realises that was not the thing to do.”Even if Trump’s claim about dead voters were true, it would not have saved him from being the first Republican to lose Georgia since 1992. Biden won the state by nearly 12,000 votes. Nor could Georgia alone have overturned Trump’s electoral college defeat, by 306-232.But Trump included his claim in a notorious call in which he pushed the Georgia secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to give him victory.“Dead people,” Trump said. “So dead people voted, and I think the number is close to 5,000 people. And they went to obituaries. They went to all sorts of methods to come up with an accurate number, and a minimum is close to about 5,000 voters.”He also claimed that “a tremendous number of dead people” voted in Michigan, adding: “I think it was … 18,000. Some unbelievably high number, much higher than yours, you were in the 4-5,000 category.”Referring to a claim of “upward of 5,000” dead voters he said was presented to Georgia officials, Raffensperger, said: “The actual number were two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted. So that’s wrong.”Trump insisted: “In one state, we have a tremendous amount of dead people. So I don’t know – I’m sure we do in Georgia, too. I’m sure we do in Georgia, too.”Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told Raffensperger: “You say they were only two dead people who would vote. I can promise you there are more than that.”The View seeks conservative to replace McCain – and angers ‘Never Trumpers’Read moreRaffensperger refused to help Trump, prompting threats to his safety. But the call also placed Trump in legal jeopardy, as a district attorney investigates whether he broke electoral law.The call was part of scattershot attempts to overturn a defeat Trump insists in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary was the result of electoral fraud.A few days after the call, on 6 January, Trump told supporters in Washington to “fight like hell” in his cause. Rioters then attacked the US Capitol, seeking to stop certification of Biden’s win, in some cases seeking to capture or kill officials including Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence.Five people died.TopicsDonald TrumpGeorgiaUS elections 2020US politicsnewsReuse this content More

Capitol panel to investigate Trump call to Willard hotel in hours before attack Committee to request contents of the call seeking to stop Biden’s certification and may subpoena Rudy Giuliani Congressman Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack, has said the panel will open an inquiry into Donald Trump’s phone call seeking to stop Joe Biden’s certification from taking place on 6 January hours before the insurrection.The chairman said the select committee intended to scrutinize the phone call – revealed last month by the Guardian – should they prevail in their legal effort to obtain Trump White House records over the former president’s objections of executive privilege.“That’s right,” Thompson said when asked by the Guardian whether the select committee would look into Trump’s phone call, and suggested House investigators had already started to consider ways to investigate Trump’s demand that Biden not be certified as president on 6 January.Thompson said the select committee could not ask the National Archives for records about specific calls, but noted “if we say we want all White House calls made on January 5 and 6, if he made it on a White House phone, then obviously we would look at it there.”The Guardian reported last month that Trump, according to multiple sources, called lieutenants based at the Willard hotel in Washington DC from the White House in the late hours of 5 January and sought ways to stop Biden’s certification from taking place on 6 January.Trump first told the lieutenants his vice-president, Mike Pence, was reluctant to go along with the plan to commandeer his ceremonial role at the joint session of Congress in a way that would allow Trump to retain the presidency for a second term, the sources said.But as Trump relayed to them the situation with Pence, the sources said, on at least one call, he pressed his lieutenants about how to stop Biden’s certification from taking place on 6 January in a scheme to get alternate slates of electors for Trump sent to Congress.The former president’s remarks came as part of wider discussions he had with the lieutenants at the Willard – a team led by Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Boris Epshteyn and Trump strategist Steve Bannon – about delaying the certification, the sources said.House investigators in recent months have pursued an initial investigation into Trump’s contacts with lieutenants at the Willard, issuing a flurry of subpoenas compelling documents and testimony to crucial witnesses, including Bannon and Eastman.But Thompson said that the select committee would now also investigate both the contents of Trump’s phone calls to the Willard and the White House’s potential involvement, in a move certain to intensify the pressure on the former president’s inner circle.“If we get the information that we requested,” Thompson said of the select committee’s demands for records from the Trump White House and Trump aides, “those calls potentially will be reflected to the Willard hotel and whomever.”A spokesperson for the select committee declined to comment about what else such a line of inquiry might involve. But a subpoena to Giuliani, the lead Trump lawyer at the Willard, is understood to be in the offing, according to a source familiar with the matter.The Guardian reported that the night before the Capitol attack, Trump called the lawyers and non-lawyers at the Willard separately, because Giuliani did not want to have non-lawyers participate on sensitive calls and jeopardize claims to attorney-client privilege.It was not clear whether Giulaini might invoke attorney-client privilege as a way to escape cooperating with the investigation in the event of a subpoena, but Congressman Jamie Raskin, a member of the select committee, noted the protection does not confer broad immunity.“The attorney-client privilege does not operate to shield participants in a crime from an investigation into a crime,” Raskin said. “If it did, then all you would have to do to rob a bank is bring a lawyer with you, and be asking for advice along the way.”The Guardian also reported Trump made several calls the day before the Capitol attack from both the White House residence, his preferred place to work, as well as the West Wing, but it was not certain from which location he phoned his top lieutenants at the Willard.The distinction is significant as phone calls placed from the White House residence, even from a landline desk phone, are not automatically memorialized in records sent to the National Archives after the end of an administration.That means even if the select committee succeeds in its litigation to pry free Trump’s call detail records from the National Archives, without testimony from people with knowledge of what was said, House investigators might only learn the target and time of the calls.TopicsUS Capitol attackDonald TrumpUS politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

Capitol rioters hit with severe sentences and sharp reprimands from judgesSome of the longest sentences have gone to rioters charged with ‘assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon’ Judges across the US have been handing down stiff sentences and hard words in recent weeks for extremist supporters of Donald Trump who took part in the 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol.Since a federal judge sentenced Jacob Chansley, the US Capitol rioter nicknamed the “QAnon shaman” for his horned headdress, to 41 months in prison last month, more US judges have been delivering strict sentences to defendants charged over their roles in the attacks earlier this year.Since the riots, federal prosecutors have brought cases against 727 individuals over their involvement in the deadly riots. With hundreds facing criminal charges, Trump has come under growing scrutiny from the House select committee investigating the attacks.The longest sentence so far was handed down to a Florida man who threw a wooden plank and fire extinguisher at police officers during the riots. On 17 December, Judge Tanya Chutkan sentenced Robert Palmer to 63 months of jail time, describing the prison term as “the consequence of those actions”.According to Chutkan, individuals who attempted to “violently overthrow the government” and “stop the peaceful transition of power” would be met with “absolutely certain punishment”.At his hearing, Palmer said he was “really, really ashamed” of his behavior, adding that he was “absolutely devastated” to see the “coldness and calculation” that he used to attack Capitol police.On Tuesday, a Washington state man was sentenced to 46 months of prison time for assaulting police officers with a speaker and a metal baton during the riots. According to court documents, Devlyn Thompson helped move police shields up against a line of rioters in a tunnel, as well as hit police officers.US District Judge Royce Lamberth told Thompson, “The violence that happened that day was such a blatant disregard to the institutions of government … You’re shoving and pushing … and participating in this riot for hours.”Thompson is the second rioter, after Palmer, to be sentenced for the felony of assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon. More than 140 other rioters face the same charge.Lamberth also sentenced an 81-year-old Army veteran on the same day to three years of probation for illegally breaching the Capitol.Gary Wickersham, one of the oldest of more than 700 rioters facing charges, was sentenced to 90 days of home detention, and will also have to pay a $2,000 fine and $500 for building damage.Defense lawyers argued against any confinement, saying that Wickersham would be unable to visit his grandchildren during his “golden years”.During his hearing, Wickersham asked for “mercy” from Lamberth and explained that he went to the Capitol because “you get bored” sitting at home.“Mr Wickersham, I appreciate what you’ve done here. I think you have led the way for others to recognize that the jig is up,” said Lamberth. The 78-year-old judge also told Wickersham that he is “the first defendant I’ve had that’s older than me in quite some time”.On Tuesday, a Pennsylvania man was also sentenced over his involvement in the riots after his wife accidentally implicated him in a Facebook status. US District Judge James Boasberg sentenced Gary Edwards to one year of probation, 200 hours of community service, as well as a $2,500 fine and $500 in damage fees.In a since deleted Facebook post, Edward’s wife wrote, “Okay ladies, let me tell you what happened as my husband was there inside the Capitol,” adding, “these were people who watched their rights being taken away, their votes stolen from them, their state officials violating the constitution of their country.”According to authorities, Edwards took pictures, helped teargassed protesters and entered an office of an unidentified congressional official.“There really is no more serious and profound action democracy takes than the certifying of a lawful and fair election,” Boasberg said. “And to the extent anyone would interfere with that, particularly with force of violence, they strike at the root of democracy,” he added.That message would seem to go for organizers of the 6 January events as well as participants in the violence.On 22 November, US District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Capitol rioter Frank Scavo to 60 days in prison, one of the strictest sentences handed down to a misdemeanor defendant and more than four times the prosecutor’s recommendation of two weeks.Scavo, a Trump supporter from Pennsylvania and former school board official, was found guilty of chartering buses to transport approximately 200 residents from Pennsylvania to the Capitol on 6 January.TopicsUS Capitol attackSentencingnewsReuse this content More