WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump fanatic who pepper-sprayed officers after the Capitol attack and called for more violence in a third-person confession was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in federal prison and a $200,000 fine.
Ryan Nichols He pleaded guilty in November obstruction of official proceedings and a felony count of assault on officers in the line of duty. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, A Ronald Reagan appointee who spoke out about the GOP’s “preposterous” false claims about the January 6 attackHe sentenced Nichols to 63 months in prison on Thursday, saying that while Nichols’ apology at the hearing “seemed sincere,” Nichols made “very serious comments” on the tape about his desire for future violence.
In one videoNichols, who was caught on tape before taking part in the Capitol attack, said the mob would lynch elected officials who voted to confirm Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
“This is the second revolution!” Nichols said as he marched toward the Capitol. “Ryan Nichols said if you vote for treason, we’ll drag you through the streets.”
After being seen on film spraying a giant canister of chemical weapons at officers inside a tunnel on the lower west terrace, Nichols took to Facebook to brag about his behavior and call for further violence.
“So if you want to know where Ryan Nichols stands, Ryan Nichols is pro-violence,” Nichols said he said in a video cited by prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher said on Jan. 6 that Nichols was a “one-man hurricane” who caused riots and violence in the Capitol, referring to Nichols’ hurricane recovery work, which he once featured on daytime television. Although the storm walls of democracy finally stopped that day, Brasher argued that January 6 was a festering wound and that the next presidential election was imminent. Brasher defended the 83-month sentence, saying the court needed to send a strong message that political violence was unacceptable. Brasher noted that Nichols repeatedly said he was willing to die for his cause.
“I’m going to die for this,” Nichols said in the video after the Jan. 6 attack. “But before I do that, if it ever comes to that, I plan to kill other people for their country first.”
Joseph McBride, a Donald Trump supporter who is acting as Nichols’ attorney, called Nichols “a good person who did a bad job.” McBride called Nichols’ comments on Jan. 6 “insane” and compared Nichols to a “tropical storm” rather than a hurricane.
McBride is a frequent guest of Tucker Carlson fueled by conspiracy theories about January 6 riotsalso claimed to believe some of the rhetoric even now”pledges“and”political prisoners” The right went too far, though, saying the government’s rhetoric about the January 6 suspects was also inappropriate.
“This is all wrong, none of it should happen,” McBride said, adding that he had recently “toned it down.”
Neither Nichols nor McBride, who said he wants “Trump to win in 2024 and live another 100 years,” has said what role they believe the former president played in Nichols’ radicalization. But Nichols is one of many defendants on Jan. 6 later they stated that they were deceived by Trump’s lies. In a 2021 interview with the FBI, Nichols stated that he “no longer trusts the president or other prominent legal leaders because he feels they have steered him in the wrong direction,” adding that “statements made by President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney PowellGenerals Michael Flynn and Lynn Wood helped him formulate his ideas.
Nichols, a military veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, told Judge Lambert Thursday at the Capitol that he apologized for causing pain and trauma to law enforcement officers. A tearful Nichols said he wanted to help other people in prison and learned from his mistakes, calling his words disgusting and deeply ashamed of his rhetoric.
“I’m absolutely mad,” Nicole said, though she added that she felt her “debt to society was fully repaid.”
“I’m not advocating violence,” said Nichols, who repeatedly said the opposite three years ago.
There are more than 1,387 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack, and prosecutors have convicted nearly 1,000. Hundreds of low-level rioters received probation, but more than 520 defendants received sentences ranging from a few days to behind bars. 22 years in federal prison. Just about 15 defendants are still in custody pending trialThe suspect who remained in prison on January 6 was convicted of a crime.