WASHINGTON — Standing in a sparsely packed federal courtroom in Washington on Friday afternoon, Another Donald Trump supporter who committed a crime on January 6, 2021, because he believed the then-president’s election lies had earned him a prison sentence for taking part in what the sentencing judge described as “a direct attack on the nation’s democracy”.
Dressed in a blue suit while shaking, sniffling and fighting back tears, Troy Weeks, 38, spoke at length about his rough childhood, boasted about refusing to participate in a walkout in high school, quoted scriptures and apologized. one of several in the courtroom gallery: ex Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonella military veteran who was repeatedly attacked while guarding the Capitol nearly four years ago.
“I’m embarrassed,” said Weeks, who pleaded guilty in May to two felonies, including assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement, as well as several misdemeanors.
A judge sentenced him to 21 months in federal prison.
In their judgment memoprosecutors for weeks sought a sentence of more than two years, writing that he “encouraged other rioters to push against police, resisted police himself and tried to get a can of OC spray from a Metropolitan Police Department officer.”
Gonell wrote in a statement he prepared to read for the judge that Weeks “assaulted us for simply doing our job” and “attempted to steal our equipment and disarm us to prolong the chaos and make it impossible for the officers to interfere with our response.”
“My family – my wife and my son – almost buried me because I kept my oath and was oppressed by people like him, the crowd he joined,” Gonell wrote. “He knew what he was doing and he didn’t care who he hurt, if the officers were family or if they were bleeding – like me, from both hands. “His actions as a member of the gang caused me and my family to suffer physically, mentally, emotionally and financially since January 6.”
New arrests this week
Weeks was not the only January 6 rioter to face repercussions in the final week, just days before the 2024 election.
Edward KellyAn anti-abortion activist convicted of killing FBI special agents who were investigating him on January 6 was tried last week in connection with the Capitol attack. There, an FBI special agent revealed for the first time that the bureau believed Kelly to be the fourth rioter to breach the US Capitol on January 6. issued a verdict.
Kelly is set to go on trial in federal court in Tennessee later this month in the murder plot. His co-defendant in this case has already admitted that the duo was planning a conspiracy.Killing FBI agents.”
Robert Piccirillo was arrested in Florida on Monday. The president of the West Palm Beach chapter of the Proud Boys, known as “Bobby Pickles,” stopped with members of the far-right group as he crossed a police line on Jan. 6, the FBI alleges. Piccirillo “We want Trump!” in front of a line of officers before entering a senator’s private “hideout” office in the Capitol through a broken window near the lower west tunnel, where the worst violence occurred that day, authorities allege. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Richard Andrews and Keith Andrews, a father-and-son couple, were arrested in New Jersey on Tuesday. Richard Andrews faces felony charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer and inciting a civil disturbance, Keith Andrews faces a felony. Lawyers for men he said The New York Times says they look forward to resolving these allegations in court.
David Joynt, who is the FBI he said He was wearing a Make America Great Again hat during the January 6 attack was arrested on Tuesday in Washington, DC. He was next to the bike racks as other protesters broke through the police line, and he then entered the building, authorities said. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Also on Tuesday, Joseph Adams was Arrested in West VirginiaThe FBI alleged that he wore a motorcycle-style helmet and ski goggles and carried an American flag as he charged into the Capitol and pushed his head into officers inside the rotunda. “We are the people! The voice is us! We are a country!” he shouted before allegedly striking the officer with a flagpole. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aaron Spanier was arrested in North Carolina on Thursdaywith the FBI saying She was dressed in “Colonial dress” when she entered the Capitol through the damaged Senate wing door. He faces bad crimes and was is assigned federal public defender, whose name is not on the court docket.
Andrew Shea was arrested in Illinois on fridayAccording to an FBI affidavit, he and two friends stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Shea came under the FBI’s radar while investigating the friends and discovered messages from one of the men stating that he, Shea and another man were “fighting with this vehicle.” Shit like a three-man crash crew on Jan. 6, and he said he was “so proud of my boys.” Shi faces four misdemeanors and court records do not yet list his attorney.
More arrests are expected. Hundreds of other Jan. 6 rioters have been identified by the FBI and online detectives investigating the Capitol attack but have not been arrested.
Federal prosecutors have so far secured more than 1,100 convictions, and more than 600 rioters have been sentenced to sentences ranging from a few days to behind bars. 22 years in federal prison For the head of the Proud Boys.
Trump promises pardons if re-elected
The fate of the January 6 investigation depends on the results of Tuesday’s election.
Trump has repeatedly said thatabsolutely” pardoned the January 6 rioters and condemned the Justice Department investigation. His campaign has said that these pardons will be granted.separately,” could see which of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with Jan. 6 — more than 570 of whom face felony charges such as assault or obstructing law enforcement — were suspended without specifics. (This includes Kelley, who is still awaiting trial on charges of plotting to kill FBI agents; the campaign declined to comment on his case.)
Meanwhile, Trump called the rioters broadly “warriors,” “incredible patriots,” political prisoners and “pledges.”
The defendants were indicted on Jan. 6 after federal authorities determined they had recorded or used the tapes. firearms, stun guns, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bike racks, batonsa metal whip, office furniture, pepper spray, bear spray, tomahawk axe, axe, hockey stick, gloves, a baseball bat, a large “Trump” billboard, “Trump” flagsa fork, pieces of wood, armrests and even an explosive device During the brutal attack that left more than 140 policemen injured and several others dead.
Many Republicans echoed Trump’s Jan. 6 rhetoric about the rioters, leading the Ronald Reagan appointee to oversee multiple Jan. 6 trials. to call “Such unwarranted justifications for criminal activity … could pose a greater threat to our country” than “foolish” attempts to “rewrite history,” he said.
As for Weeks, he will be allowed to turn himself in after December 16, Trump’s “fourth birthday.”it will be wild” a tweet that helped spur the movement on January 6, and which the far-right viewed as a “tweet”.call to arms.”
In Weeks’ commentary, he quoted the Bible verse from Judges: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
According to him, many people in the country feel as if the country’s leadership is not their leadership. He said he grew up.
“Time,” Weeks said, “is the only thing that proves whether you’ve learned something or not.”