New arrests and sentencings on January 6 ahead of the 2024 elections

WASHINGTON – Standing in a sparsely packed federal courtroom in Washington on Friday afternoon, another Donald Trump supporter who committed crimes on January 6, 2021 because he believed the then-President’s election lies was sentenced to prison for had participated in what his sentencing judge described as “a direct attack on the country’s democracy.”

Troy Weeks, 38, wearing a blue suit and shaking, sniffling and fighting back tears, spoke at length about his difficult childhood, bragging that he had refused to take part in a strike when he was in high school , quoted Bible passages and apologized to one of the few people in the courtroom: former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, a military veteran who was repeatedly attacked while protecting the Capitol nearly four years ago.

“I’m ashamed,” said Weeks, who pleaded guilty in May to two felonies, including assault, resisting or obstructing police officers, and several misdemeanors.

The judge sentenced him to 21 months in federal prison.

In their sentencing memo, prosecutors asked for more than two years in prison for Weeks, writing that he “encouraged other rioters to act against police, acted against police himself, and attempted to grab a can of OC spray from a Metropolitan Police Department.” “Officer.”

Gonell wrote in remarks he planned to read to the judge that Weeks “assaulted us simply because we were doing our jobs” and “attempted to steal our equipment and disarm us in order to prolong the chaos and incapacitate the officers.” to hinder our response.”

“My family – my wife and son – almost buried me because I kept my oath and was beaten down by people like him, by the mob he joined,” Gonell wrote. “He knew what he was doing and he didn’t care who he hurt or whether the officers had families or whether, like me, they were bleeding from both hands. His actions as a member of the Mafia contributed to the pain my family and I have suffered physically, mentally, morally and financially since January 6th.”

There are new arrests this week

Weeks wasn’t the only Jan. 6 rioter to face repercussions last week, just days before the 2024 election.

Edward Kelley, an anti-abortion activist separately accused of plotting to assassinate the FBI special agent who was investigating him on Jan. 6, went on trial last week in his attack on the Capitol. There, an FBI special agent revealed for the first time that the FBI believes Kelley — who evidence shows was the fourth rioter to breach the U.S. Capitol — was armed with a gun on Jan. 6. The judge in this bench trial has not yet issued a verdict.

Kelley is scheduled to go on trial later this month in federal court in Tennessee in a murder-for-hire case. His co-defendant in the case has already admitted that the duo planned “to murder employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Robert Piccirillo was arrested in Florida on Monday. The president of the West Palm Beach chapter of the Proud Boys, known as “Bobby Pickles,” stood with his colleagues from the far-right group as they passed the police line on Jan. 6, the FBI alleges. Piccirillo chanted, “We want Trump!” in front of a line of officers before entering through a broken window near the lower West Tunnel into a senator’s private “hidden” office in the Capitol, where some of the worst violence occurred that day, they claimed the authorities. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Richard Andrews and Keith Andrews, a father-son duo, were arrested in New Jersey on Tuesday. Richard Andrews is charged with assaulting a police officer and rioting, while Keith Andrews is charged with disorderly conduct. The men’s lawyers told The New York Times that they look forward to resolving these allegations in court.

David Joynt, who the FBI said wore a “Make America Great Again” hat during the Jan. 6 attack, was arrested Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Authorities said he was near the bike racks when other rioters broke the police line and then broke into the building. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also on Tuesday, Joseph Adams was arrested in West Virginia. The FBI claimed he was wearing a motorcycle helmet, ski goggles and an American flag when he stormed the Capitol and crashed headfirst into officers in the Rotunda. “We are the people! We are the voice! We are the country!” he shouted before allegedly hitting an officer with his flagpole. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Aaron Spanier was arrested in North Carolina on Thursday. The FBI said he was wearing “a Colonial-era outfit” when he stormed into the Capitol through a damaged Senate double door. He is charged with misdemeanors and has been appointed a federal public defender, but is not named in the court filing.

Andrew Shea was arrested Friday in Illinois with an FBI affidavit alleging he stormed the Capitol with two friends on Jan. 6. Shea came onto the FBI’s radar when they investigated these friends and uncovered messages from one of the men saying that he, Shea and another man were “fighting their way through shit as a three-man demolition team” on January 6th and that he was “so proud of my boys”. Shea is charged with four misdemeanors and his attorney is not yet listed in court records.

Many more arrests are expected. Hundreds of other Jan. 6 rioters have been identified but not arrested by the FBI and online sleuths investigating the attack on the Capitol.

Federal prosecutors have secured more than 1,100 convictions so far, and more than 600 rioters have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from a few days behind bars to 22 years in federal prison for the Proud Boys leader.

Trump promises pardons if re-elected

The fate of the Jan. 6 investigation depends on the results of Tuesday’s election.

Trump has repeatedly said he would “absolutely” pardon the Jan. 6 rioters and has denounced the Justice Department’s investigation. His campaign said these pardons would be made on a “case-by-case basis,” without elaborating on which of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with January 6 – over 570 of whom were charged with assault or battery obstruct – could ensure that their proceedings are stopped. (That includes Kelley, who is still awaiting trial on charges of conspiring to murder FBI agents; the campaign declined to comment on his case.)

Meanwhile, Trump broadly referred to the rioters as “warriors,” “incredible patriots,” political prisoners and “hostages.”

On January 6, the defendants were indicted after federal authorities discovered they were brandishing or using firearms, stun guns, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bicycle racks, batons, a metal whip, office furniture, pepper spray, bear spray, a tomahawk ax and a hatchet Hockey sticks, knuckle gloves, a baseball bat, a giant “Trump” billboard, “Trump” flags, a pitchfork, pieces of wood, crutches and even an explosive device during the brutal attack that injured more than 140 police officers and left several people stranded in the country dead.

Many Republicans have echoed Trump’s rhetoric about the Jan. 6 rioters, prompting a Ronald Reagan-appointed judge who oversaw numerous Jan. 6 trials to denounce “absurd” attempts to “rewrite history.” .. could herald further danger for our country.”

As for Weeks, he will be allowed to surrender sometime after December 16th, which is just before the fourth anniversary of Trump’s “Will be Wild” tweet that helped set January 6th in motion, and which the right-wing extremists saw as a “Will be wild” tweet. Call to arms.”

In Weeks’ commentary, he quoted a Bible verse from Judges that reads: “In those days there was no king in Israel; Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

He said many people in the country feel that the leadership of the country is not their own leadership. He said he had grown.

“Time,” Weeks said, “is the only thing that proves whether you have learned something or not.”