Thread: Right-wing domestic terrorists

Originally Posted by S Landreth

He faces a maximum of more than 35 years

Draconic

Attacked police officers like european football hooligans does most weekends.

But..
Only natural that the courts delievers customers for the private enterprise prisons of the US

Originally Posted by helge

Draconic

Attacked police officers like european football hooligans does most weekends.

But..
Only natural that the courts delievers customers for the private enterprise prisons of the US

Did you read the whole article?

Originally Posted by S Landreth

He faces a maximum of more than 35 years imprisonment if convicted, but those found guilty of similar crimes, in practices, have gotten far less.

Yes
I read that too.

You reckon they "worked" with the prosecuters or that the judge was in a good mood ?

I also know, that the fellow, who, in 2001 fired at the White House, got 3 years plus 3 years parole.

Which I find non-draconic.


I'm a sucker for proportions

^
Why don't you wait until he's convicted and sentenced before making your point?

Ok, Pickel

Not the sharpest tool in the box.

The Neo-Nazi who allegedly plowed a U-Haul truck into the White House gates during a failed attempt to kill President Joe Biden told a Secret Service agent: 'My message was received.'
Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, also told agents who quizzed him after the attack that Adolf Hitler was a 'strong leader', an affidavit reveals.

Not sure he would have got into the master race....

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes should spend 25 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department argued, after a jury last November found him guilty of seditious conspiracy.

18 years

18 years - longest prison term assigned to a figure involved in the riot

• Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for role in Jan. 6 attack

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes to 18 years in prison following his conviction on seditious conspiracy charges for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The sentencing represents the longest prison term assigned to a figure involved in the riot, coming after Rhodes was found guilty on numerous other charges last November, including other felony charges such as obstruction of an official proceeding.

Judge Amit Mehta laid down the sentence with harsh words for Rhodes over a several-minute speech, castigating the leader for referring to himself as a political prisoner earlier in the hearing.

“You are not a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes,” Mehta said, adding that he presents “an ongoing threat and a peril to this country.”

He added that what we “cannot have is a group of citizens … prepared to take up arms in order to foment a revolution. That’s what you did.”

“We now all hold our collective breaths every time an election is approaching. Will we have another Jan. 6? That remains to be seen.”

The sentence comes ahead of those of numerous other Oath Keepers members slated to receive their punishment over the next two weeks for their role in the attack. Several in the group were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, as were members of another far-right group, the Proud Boys, who faced the charge in another trial.

It’s also significant because Rhodes never entered the Capitol that day, instead remaining on the grounds, directing his team via a walkie-talkie app as they entered the building via “stack” formation.

Mehta largely sided with the Justice Department, which suggested a 25-year prison sentence for Rhodes, arguing the former Army soldier encouraged other fellow veterans to violate the oaths to defend the Constitution they took when beginning their service.

Seditious conspiracy carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence, but the Justice Department also sought a terrorism enhancement for Rhodes and other Oath Keepers defendants.

“He exploited his vast public influence as the leader of the Oath Keepers and used his talents for manipulation to goad more than twenty other American citizens into using force, intimidation, and violence to seek to impose their preferred result on a U.S. presidential election,” the Justice Department wrote in a sentencing memo earlier this month.

Rhodes’s attorneys argued he should be sentenced to 16 months — the time he has spent in prison for the duration of his trial.

“I hope Trump wins in 2024,” Rhodes said.

Originally Posted by helge

18 years

18 years of dropping soap in the showers. He'll be happy.

12 years

• Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs sentenced to 12 years

Kelly Meggs, the Florida leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for his part in the Jan.6 Capitol insurrection.

The sentencing came just hours after the group's national leader, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, was sent to jail for 18 years. Roger Parloff from Lawfare, Brandi Buchanan from Empty Wheel and Scott MacFarlane from CBS News all live-tweeted as the sentencing hearing unfolded.

At the beginning of the sentencing, District Court Judge Amit Mehta suggested that Meggs had not been coordinating with other Oath Keepers, a fact the assistant US Attorneys disputed.

Messages from Meggs indicated that days before the Jan. 6 attack, he and others assumed President Donald Trump was seeking to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would permit him to stay in office.

“Trump’s staying in, he’s gonna use the emergency broadcast system on cell phones to broadcast to the American people. Then he will claim the insurrection act,” Meggs said in one Facebook message on Dec. 26.

“Any idea when?” a person replied.

“Next week,” Meggs said. “Then wait for the 6th when we are all in dc to insurrection.”

Meggs' lawyer, Stanley Woodward, objected to characterizations from the jury that his client was "co-terminus with the conspiracy."

"We respect that the jury found when Meggs went in that the purpose was criminal, but that doesn't change the fact that there wasn't evidence of that kind of plan."

Meggs said that he had resigned from the Oath Keeprs and had made it clear to Rhodes he didn't want to participate in Jan. 6, but he remained on the calls and contacts.

"This is the moment we signed up for," Meggs said on Jan. 6.

Meggs later wrote: "Easy to chat here, the real question is who is ready to die?" and "Scare the hell out of them..." Another suggested flying Oath Keeper flags over Washington. Another said: "There'll be blood in streets no matter what."

Meggs' lawyers claimed this was overactive hyperbole.

"Truth was, it wasn't," said Mehta.

The judge also said that Meggs was responsible for the destruction of property on the east side of the U.S. Capitol doors. On the level 2 enhancement of his charges, Mehta said that he believes he was directed to go into the Capitol.

"It is because of Mr. Rhodes that Mr. Meggs is, in part, sitting here today," Mehta said. "I'm not suggesting I'm absolving him of responsibility or he didn't act of his own free will. But Rhodes' influence on Meggs and dozens of other people who came to Washington that day."

Mehta also reiterated what a unique charge and conviction it has been.

He said that in this case, "a substantial sentence is necessary" because of the nature of the circumstance, citing whether Meggs was looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while he was making his way through the Capitol. Today, he said, Meggs called it unfortunate and hyperbolic – but if that's hyperbole, Mehta said that there's quite a lot of it.

Mehta cited Rhodes' words on the group call, saying, "There's nothing left to do but fight," the idea that Meggs would see that as doing nothing more than security isn't believable. He said he didn't know how anyone could stand in the court and say that it was all just "bombast" when Meggs was telling others on the Oath Keepers Florida chat that he was prepared to die, because taht's what patriots do. Again, it doesn't sound like just a "security detail," as Meggs claimed.

He repeated something he said he's also mentioned in the other Jan. 6 cases: "It is astonishing to me how average Americans somehow transformed into criminals in the weeks before Jan. 6."

He closed by saying the sentence will reflect that the United States has a process, an election, "and if your guy or gal loses, you hope for a better result next time. You don't take to the streets or join in for a war in the streets. You don't rush into the U.S. Capitol with the hope of trying to stop the electoral count." He said if that is allowed to happen, and the rule of law is not upheld, the country will descend into chaos. That, he said, is why they're in the courtroom today.

Oath Keepers

Jessica Watkins - 8.5 years (102 months) in prison and 36 months of supervised release

Kenneth Harrelson - 4 years (48 months) in prison and 24 months of supervised release

• Two More Oath Keepers Members Sentenced on Felony Charges Related to U.S. Capitol Breach

Jessica Watkins and Kenneth Harrelson were sentenced today on felony charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

Watkins, 40, of Woodstock, Ohio, was sentenced to 8.5 years (102 months) in prison and 36 months of supervised release for conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder, and conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging duties. Harrelson, 42, of Titusville, Florida, was sentenced to 4 years (48 months) in prison and 24 months of supervised release for obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging duties, and tampering with documents or proceedings. Both defendants were found guilty at trial in November 2022, along with co-defendants Elmer Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs who were sentenced earlier this week. Co-defendant Thomas Caldwell is awaiting sentencing. Co-conspirators Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, Joseph Hackett, and David Moerschel—who were all found guilty at trial in January 2023—are scheduled to be sentenced next week on June 1 and 2, 2023.

According to the government’s evidence, beginning in late December 2020, via encrypted and private communications applications, Watkins, Harrelson, Rhodes, Meggs, Caldwell, and others coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C., on or around Jan. 6, 2021, the date of the certification of the electoral college vote. The defendants also, collectively, employed a variety of manners and means, including: organizing into teams that were prepared and willing to use force and to transport firearms and ammunition into Washington, D.C.; recruiting members and affiliates; organizing trainings to teach and learn paramilitary combat tactics; bringing and contributing paramilitary gear, weapons, and supplies – including knives, batons, camouflaged combat uniforms, tactical vests with plates, helmets, eye protection, and radio equipment – to the Capitol grounds; breaching and attempting to take control of the Capitol grounds and building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the electoral college vote; using force against law enforcement officers while inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; continuing to plot, after Jan. 6, 2021, to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power, and using websites, social media, text messaging and encrypted messaging applications to communicate with each other and others.

On Jan. 6, 2021, a large crowd began to gather outside the Capitol perimeter as the Joint Session of Congress got under way at 1 p.m. Crowd members eventually forced their way through, up, and over U.S. Capitol Police barricades and advanced to the building’s exterior façade. Shortly after 2 p.m., crowd members forced entry into the Capitol by breaking windows, ramming open doors, and assaulting Capitol police and other law enforcement officers. At about this time, according to the government’s evidence, Rhodes entered the restricted area of the Capitol grounds and directed his followers to meet him at the Capitol.

At approximately 2:30 p.m., according to the government’s evidence, Meggs, Harrelson, and Watkins, along with other Oath Keepers and affiliates – many wearing paramilitary clothing and patches with the Oath Keepers name, logo, and insignia – marched in a “stack” formation up the east steps of the Capitol, joined a mob, and made their way into the Capitol. Rhodes and Caldwell remained outside the Capitol, where they coordinated activities.

While certain Oath Keepers members and affiliates breached the Capitol grounds and building, others remained stationed just outside of the city in quick reaction force (QRF) teams. According to the government’s evidence, the QRF teams were prepared to rapidly transport firearms and other weapons into Washington, D.C., in support of operations aimed at using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power.

Watkins was arrested on Jan. 18, 2021, in Ohio. Harrelson was arrested on March 10, 2021, in Florida.

In the 28 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 320 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for role in Jan. 6 attack

He hates his given first name. So



​Elmer!!!

It's nice to see these things finally coming to fruition . . . luckily for them Trump will pardon them all.


Oh, did Trump pay for all their legal fees as he said he would

Originally Posted by panama hat

luckily for them Trump will pardon them all.

yeah him and desantis, but neither one will see the inside of the White House

Experts warn of increased risk of US terror attacks by rightwing ‘lone wolf’ actors

The US is at an increased risk of domestic terror attacks by rightwing “lone wolf” actors, experts have warned, as inflammatory Republican rhetoric around a variety of issues seems likely to continue ahead of the 2024 election.


The number of attacks by adherents to rightwing ideology has soared since 2016, as Republican lies about election interference, and escalating rhetoric from the right about minority groups, have served to “provide mechanisms” for individuals to become radicalized, an analyst said.

As the threat of domestic rightwing terrorism rises, researchers say individuals, rather than organized groups, are now far more likely to commit what analysts call “crimes inspired by extremist ideology”.

There have been a series of such attacks in recent years. In May 2022 a white supremacist killed 10 Black people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The attacker said he had chosen the location because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood. He was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.


A self-described white nationalist killed 23 people and injured 22 in a shooting in El Paso, on the border of Mexico and the US, in 2019, in an anti-immigration attack targeting Hispanic people.


In recent years a white supremacist killed nine people at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, while just this week a man was arrested after he crashed a rented truck into bollards near the White House. The man subsequently praised Adolf Hitler to investigators and said he intended to “kill the president”, according to charging documents.


​Michael Jensen, senior researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (Start) at the University of Maryland, said 70% of individuals committing terrorist acts in the US are individuals, or part of “isolated cliques” – small groups of three to four people.


“That said, these individuals might be lone actors, but they’re not lonely actors,” Jensen said.


“They are embedded in these online ecosystems where they are exchanging ideas with each other all day every day.”


Jensen leads the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (Pirus) project, a database tracking how US extremists came to be radicalized.

According to the data, 90% of the cases of US terrorists are classed as domestic. Of the domestic extremists, 95% are far-right, Jensen said: white supremacists, Proud Boys, anti-immigrant groups and anti-government groups.


There has been a worrying increase in the number of attacks. Prior to 2016, Jensen and his team logged about 150 individuals a year who were “committing crimes inspired by extremist ideology”.


Since 2016, the number of people committing such crimes has jumped to about 300-350 cases a year, Jensen said – not including a huge spike in 2021 as a result of the January 6 insurrection.


As the number of incidents have risen, there have been changes in how people come to rightwing terrorism.


“Before the internet and before social media, how an individual was likely to radicalize is that it was going to be through a face-to-face relationship that they had in the physical world,” Jensen said.


“So they had a cousin that was involved in a skinhead gang and they recruited them, or there was a group active in their neighborhood and they saw a flyer and took an interest in it.


“It was a much more labor-intensive process to get people involved.”

With the advent of social media, white supremacist ideas and groups are available “at the click of a button”, Jensen said. Individuals have a much easier path to becoming radicalized.




At the same time, the threat of rightwing terrorism has been exacerbated by the normalizing of political violence, or violent rhetoric, by elected officials and media personalities. Prominent figures can provide a gateway for people to commit violence when they demonize immigrants or the LGBTQ+ community, or indulge conspiracies like the great replacement theory, Jensen said.


“They get this disinformation and conspiracy theories that are a bit more watered down: does not make calls to violence, but they provide the mechanisms for people to follow that narrative to the places where they will encounter that rhetoric.”


Susan Corke, intelligence project Director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the far right has been “increasingly mobilized since the beginning of the Trump era”.

Currently, the level of mobilization, coordination and sustained focus of the far right’s anti-LGBTQ+, particularly anti-trans, [prejudice] is much worse.


“The past year saw unprecedented violence against transgender and gender-nonconforming people, and the most frequent victims were women of color, especially black transgender women,” Corke said.


Corke said terror attacks by individuals should be seen within the wider context of hate-filled rhetoric and extremist platforms.


“While a shooter or someone who takes violent action may act on their own, I would say that they are not solo actors,” she said.


“People do not ‘self-radicalize’ – they exist within social and political structures that perpetuate these ideas, often through deliberate disinformation and active recruitment from groups espousing hateful ideologies.”


Corke said the way to combat and prevent rightwing terrorism is to educate young people and work towards early intervention.


“Communities and governments need to adopt a public health approach to preventing extremism by engaging communities, mental health experts, social workers and, especially, people involved in the day-to-day lives of young people,” she said.

In 2021 a report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence – the head of the US intelligence community – warned that racially motivated extremists posed the most lethal domestic terrorism threat. It echoed post-January 6 warnings from Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, that the threat from domestic violent extremism was “metastasizing” across the country.


But despite the FBI and US intelligence pronouncements, a major problem with combating rightwing terrorism is that law enforcement does not adequately track instances of violence, said Michael German, a former FBI special agent who infiltrated white supremacy groups in the 1990s and now works at the Brennan Center for Justice.


“The FBI doesn’t know how many people white supremacists killed last year in the United States. They don’t collect that information,” German said.


When attacks by white supremacists do happen, “they often get parsed in a way that minimizes them,” he said. White supremacist violence is frequently recorded under the category of gang violence, rather than domestic terrorism, while attacks conducted by individuals who have far-right beliefs are frequently classified as hate crimes – outside of the domestic terrorism umbrella.


“You would think that if the FBI and the justice department had a real interest in significantly suppressing this type of crime, they would at least count them,” German said.

German said a significant change from the time he spent undercover investigating neo-Nazi organizations in the 1990s to the modern environment is the language elected officials use to talk about certain groups.


“Back in the 90s there were Republicans who used dog whistle politics – they used phrases and arguments that the far-right militant crowd understood as speaking to them about their issues,” German said.


“Now you see sitting politicians who exalt in violence, and call for more of it and call for exonerating the people who committed violence because they committed violence in furtherance of their political cause.”


That’s the kind of rhetoric that led to the January 6 insurrection, German said – and could continue to cause problems in the future.


“If the government is saying: ‘Do it, and do it for me, and I’ll pardon you,’ or ‘I’ll pay your legal bills’ – which are things that are said today – then it’s easier [for members of the far right] to say: ‘OK, this is authorized.’


“That’s how you get 10,000 people attacking the US Capitol.”

Experts warn of increased risk of US terror attacks by rightwing ‘lone wolf’ actors | The far right | The Guardian

two years and three months of imprisonment

• Woman who threatened Nancy Pelosi with hanging during Capitol riot gets over 2 years in prison

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.

Pauline Bauer was near Pelosi’s office suite on Jan. 6, 2021, when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.

In January, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden convicted Bauer of riot-related charges after hearing trial testimony without a jury. The judge sentenced her to two years and three months of imprisonment, giving her credit for the several months she already has served in jail, court records show.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months for Bauer, 55, of Kane, Pennsylvania.

Bauer was part of the mob that forced police officers on the East Plaza to retreat. After forcing her way into the Capitol, she accosted officers who were trying to secure the Rotunda, shoving one of them, and yelled at police to “bring them out or we’re coming in,” according to federal prosecutors.

“They’re criminals. They need to hang,” she screamed. “Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang (her). Bring her out.”

Other rioters shouted threats against Pelosi while they roamed through the Capitol.

“Bauer’s threat to hang Speaker Pelosi was real, imminent, and placed the Speaker of the House in danger,” prosecutor James Peterson wrote in a court filing.

Bauer traveled from her north Pennsylvania home to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on Jan. 6. She had attended a “Stop the Steal” rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a day earlier.

She came to Washington with at least five other people who have been charged in the Capitol riot, including co-defendant William Blauser, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Last year, McFadden ordered Blauser to pay a $500 fine but didn’t sentence him to any term of incarceration or probation.

McFadden convicted Bauer of all five counts in her indictment, including a felony charge that she obstructed the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that certified President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.

Defense attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said Bauer never intended to interfere with the process of certifying the Electoral College vote. She “genuinely regrets her past actions” and doesn’t pose a threat to the public, her lawyer said.

_________

• Jan. 6 rioters are raking in thousands in donations. Now the US is coming after their haul

Less than two months after he pleaded guilty to storming the U.S. Capitol, Texas resident Daniel Goodwyn appeared on Tucker Carlson’s then-Fox News show and promoted a website where supporters could donate money to Goodwyn and other rioters whom the site called “political prisoners.”

The Justice Department now wants Goodwyn to give up more than $25,000 he raised — a clawback that is part of a growing effort by the government to prevent rioters from being able to personally profit from participating in the attack that shook the foundations of American democracy.

An Associated Press review of court records shows that prosecutors in the more than 1,000 criminal cases from Jan. 6, 2021, are increasingly asking judges to impose fines on top of prison sentences to offset donations from supporters of the Capitol rioters.

Dozens of defendants have set up online fundraising appeals for help with legal fees, and prosecutors acknowledge there’s nothing wrong with asking for help for attorney expenses. But the Justice Department has, in some cases, questioned where the money is really going because many of those charged have had government-funded legal representation.

Most of the fundraising efforts appear on GiveSendGo, which bills itself as “The #1 Free Christian Fundraising Site” and has become a haven for Jan. 6 defendants barred from using mainstream crowdfunding sites, including GoFundMe, to raise money. The rioters often proclaim their innocence and portray themselves as victims of government oppression, even as they cut deals to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.

Their fundraising success suggests that many people in the United States still view Jan. 6 rioters as patriots and cling to the baseless belief that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump. The former president himself has fueled that idea, pledging to pardon rioters if he is elected.

Markus Maly, a Virginia man scheduled to be sentenced next month for assaulting police at the Capitol, raised more than $16,000 from an online campaign that described him as a “January 6 P.O.W.” and asked for money for his family. Prosecutors have requested a $16,000-plus fine, noting that Maly had a public defender and did not owe any legal fees.

“He should not be able to use his own notoriety gained in the commission of his crimes to ‘capitalize’ on his participation in the Capitol breach in this way,” a prosecutor wrote in court papers.

So far this year, prosecutors have sought more than $390,000 in fines against at least 21 riot defendants, in amounts ranging from $450 to more than $71,000, according to the AP’s tally.

Judges have imposed at least $124,127 in fines against 33 riot defendants this year. In the previous two years, judges ordered more than 100 riot defendants to collectively pay more than $240,000 in fines.

Separately, judges have ordered hundreds of convicted rioters to pay more than $524,000 in restitution to the government to cover more than $2.8 million in damage to the Capitol and other Jan. 6-related expenses.

More rioters facing the most serious charges and longest prison terms are now being sentenced. They tend to also be the prolific fundraisers, which could help explain the recent surge in fines requests.

__________

Extra

• Judge won't recommend low-security prison for Bigo Barnett

Jan. 6 rioter who invaded Nancy Pelosi’s office denied summer respite and cushy prison camp recommendation

A Jan. 6th rioter seen gleefully kicking his foot up on a desk inside of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office had wanted the rest of the summer to “arrange for his affairs” before reporting to prison. That man, Richard “Bigo” Barnett, also wanted a federal judge to recommend a low-security camp for him to serve his 4 1/2-year prison sentence.

On Tuesday, a federal judge refused to make those recommendations, leaving Barnett’s fate in the hands of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

“Defendant has had ample time since his conviction to prepare for his incarceration and presents no compelling reasons to justify additional delay,” U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper wrote in a brief minute order. “Defendant’s request for a recommendation for a BOP placement beyond 500 miles from his home in order to qualify him for a minimum-security facility is also DENIED. Determinations regarding security-level placements lie in the sound discretion of BOP based on its internal criteria. The Court generally plays no role in those determinations.”

Barnett had requested a surrender date of Aug. 22, 2023, claiming it’s “not uncommon” to have a 90-day window between sentencing and prison. His attorney claimed that his client’s life circumstances warranted a summer recess.

“Specifically, Mr. Barnett’s significant other is disabled and he will need to liquidate personal property and try to earn some extra income to help her before he leaves,” his attorney Jonathan S. Gross wrote in a motion. “Additionally, he needs to do repairs to her home to make sure everything is in working order and other miscellaneous projects that will be unduly burdensome on her as she is not in a financial position to hire someone to do these projects.”

According to the motion, the Bureau of Prisons doesn’t typically support a prison recommendation that’s more than 500 miles away from the defendant’s residence. Barnett is from Gravette, Arkansas, a city of a little more than 3,500 people. Court papers do not disclose what prisons are being considered for Barnett’s term.

Militia Members Indicted for Conspiracy to Murder Border Patrol Officers and Attempted Murder of FBI Agents

Tennessee, Missouri Men Planned to Shoot Immigrants Crossing the Border



JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Two members of the self-styled 2nd American Militia who conspired to go “to war with border patrol” have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to a conspiracy to murder Border Patrol officers, which ended in a shootout with FBI agents who arrested them on the eve of their planned trip to the United States – Mexico border.


Bryan C. Perry, 37, of Clarksville, Tennessee, and Jonathan S. O’Dell, 33, of Warsaw, Mo., were charged in a 44-count second superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City on Wednesday, May 30. The second superseding indictment replaces prior charges filed against Perry and O’Dell and contains additional charges. Perry and O’Dell remain in federal custody without bond following separate detention hearings in which the court ruled they pose a danger to the community.


The indictment alleges that Perry and O’Dell participated in a conspiracy to murder officers and employees of the United States government. They allegedly planned to travel to Texas to shoot at illegal immigrants crossing the United States – Mexico border. According to the indictment, they also planned to murder officers and employees of the U.S. Border Patrol who would attempt to stop them.


In addition, the indictment also alleges that Perry and O’Dell participated in a conspiracy to assault federal officers and employees and a conspiracy to injure federal officers and employees. The indictment also charges them together in seven counts of the attempted murder of FBI special agents, seven counts of assaulting FBI special agents with a deadly weapon, three counts of assaulting FBI special agents, 14 counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and one count of damaging federal property.


Perry is also charged with two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, one count of the possession of body armor by a violent felon, one count of possessing an explosive, and one count of threatening to injure another person.


O’Dell is also charged with one count of possessing a firearm while subject to a court order of protection, one count of threatening to injure another person, and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.


Throughout the spring, summer, and fall of 2022, the indictment says, Perry and O’Dell recruited and attempted to recruit other individuals to join their militia group. They advertised a recruitment event in Warsaw prior to leaving for the United States – Mexico border.


On Sept. 5, 2022, Perry traveled from Tennessee to Warsaw to live with O’Dell. They allegedly used O’Dell’s residence as a staging site as they prepared for their trip to the border and collected firearms, paramilitary gear, ammunition, and other supplies.


The federal indictment cites a series of social media posts from Perry. On Sept. 12, 2022, Perry posted a video on TikTok in which he discussed illegal immigrants coming into the United States from Mexico. Perry stated that the U.S. Border Patrol was committing treason by allowing these illegal immigrants to enter the United States, and that the penalty for treason was death. Perry posted another video on TikTok the next day in which he stated that he was “ready to go to war against this government.”


On Sept. 22, 2022, Perry posted a video on TikTok in which he stated, “we’re out to shoot to kill” and that “our group is gonna go protect this country.” On Oct. 3, 2022, Perry posted a video on TikTok in which he stated, “we were going out huntin’,” that his group was taking their “full kits,” and that they were leaving for the United States – Mexico border on Oct. 8, 2022.


On Oct. 3, 2022, Perry held a phone conversation with an unidentified individual in which Perry stated they were going to go down to the United States – Mexico border to “start a war.” Perry expressed their plan to shoot people coming across the border and to shoot “federal agents” who would oppose them. Perry also stated they would acquire gear and supplies from federal agents after they “take a couple of ’em out.”


On Oct. 7, 2022, according to the indictment, Perry and O’Dell had amassed six firearms, 23 magazines filled with ammunition, 1,770 rounds of various other ammunition, two sets of body armor with corresponding plate carrier vests, a handheld radio, two sniper rests, two gas masks, two items that appeared to be ballistic helmets, and multiple containers of a binary explosive mixture commonly sold as an exploding target.


On Oct. 7, 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at O’Dell’s residence and took O’Dell and Perry into custody. Federal agents approached the property in vehicles with red and blue lights activated. As the FBI approached, an agent utilized a loudspeaker on one of the vehicles, stating that they were with the FBI and that they had a search warrant for the residence. The FBI agent began to repeat the announcement, again stating that they were with the FBI, when gunshots were fired from a front window at the lead FBI vehicle. Several rounds hit the lead FBI vehicle. According to the indictment, Perry fired 11 shots from his Voodoo Innovations multi-caliber rifle with an AM-15 lower receiver. FBI special agents did not return fire and, after the gunshots ceased, the FBI established a perimeter and began communicating with the persons inside the residence to come out.


The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.


This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey Clark and Ashley Turner. It was investigated by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Western District of Missouri | Militia Members Indicted for Conspiracy to Murder Border Patrol Officers and Attempted Murder of FBI Agents | United States Department of Justice

mandatory minimum sentence of 60 years in prison

• Failed Republican candidate charged in New Mexico shooting spree at Democrats' homes

Solomon Peña, an unsuccessful New Mexico Republican candidate accused of shootings at Democratic officials' homes in the state, now faces federal charges.

Driving the news: Prosecutors accuse the 40-year-old Peña of organizing the shootings at the homes of two Bernalillo County commissioners and two New Mexico state legislators following his November state House election loss, per a Department of Justice indictment that was unsealed Wednesday.

• "The shootings, one of which involved a machine gun, were carried out between Dec. 4, 2022, and Jan. 3, with assistance from co-conspirators" including Demetrio Trujillo, 41, and Jose Trujillo, 22, who also face charges, according to a DOJ statement.
• "Before the shootings, Peña visited the homes of at least three Bernalillo County commissioners and allegedly urged them not to certify the election results, claiming that the election had been 'rigged' against him," the DOJ added.
• "Following the Bernalillo County board of commissioners' certification of the vote, Peña allegedly hired others to conduct the shootings and carried out at least one of the shootings himself. At least three of the shootings occurred while children and other relatives of the victims were at home."

Zoom out: The incidents occurred amid a surge in reported attacks and threats that targeted elected officials.

Zoom in: The shootings did not injure anyone, but the Albuquerque Journal notes that bullets "pierced" the bedroom window of the 10-year-old daughter of state Sen. Linda Lopez as she slept.

• Peña has been in pretrial detention since his arrest in January on state charges.
• Now, Peña, Demetrio Trujillo, and Jose Trujillo have been charged with conspiracy, interference with federally protected activities and several firearms offenses, including the use of a machine gun.
• Jose Trujillo was also charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and firearms offenses, including possession of a machine gun.

What we're watching: If convicted, Peña faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 years in prison.

What they're saying: "In America, the integrity of our voting system is sacrosanct," said U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez for the District of New Mexico. "These charges strike at the heart of our democracy."

• "Voters, candidates, and election officials must be free to exercise their rights and do their jobs safely and free from fear, intimidation, or influence, and with confidence that law enforcement and prosecuting offices will lead the charge when someone tries to silence the will of the people," he added.

• "To those who try to sow division, chaos, and fear into our democratic process, these charges should send a message that we are unified, organized, and undaunted."

Ex-Navy Reservist sentenced to 4 years in Capitol riot case

• 'A rabbit hole of darkness and extremism'

Hatchet Speed, a former Navy Reserves petty officer first class, was convicted of obstructing the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021

A federal judge sentenced a former Navy Reservist to four years in prison Monday for obstructing the joint session of Congress — adding to a three-year sentence he's already begun for illegally possessing unregistered silencers.

Hatchet Speed, a former Navy Reserves petty officer first class previously stationed at the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, Virginia, was convicted in a March bench trial of one felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding and four misdemeanor charges. He was convicted separately in January in a Virginia case for possessing three unregistered silencers – which he told an undercover FBI employee he thought would be useful for holding “mock trials” for his enemies. Speed's term of service with the Navy Reserves expired in November.

A federal judge in Virginia sentenced Speed to three years in prison last month on the silencer charges. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ordered Speed to spend another four years in prison on top of that for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, along with a $10,000 fine and $2,000 in restitution. McFadden, who served as a deputy assistant attorney general before being nominated to the federal bench in 2017 by former President Donald Trump, said Speed's anti-Semitic motivations for trying to stop the certification of the election were especially troubling to him.

"It seems to me you've gone down a rabbit hole of darkness and extremism over the past several years," McFadden said.

In their sentencing memo, prosecutors argued Speed had a “precise” understanding of what Congress was doing on Jan. 6 and nevertheless chose to join the mob that overran police.

“He hoped the mob’s resistance would spark a larger uprising that would so intimidate Congress that then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi would ‘resign out of fear for her life,’” they wrote.

Speed was represented at trial by the D.C. Federal Public Defender’s Office. In the defense’s sentencing memo, his attorney, Courtney Dixon, asked for six months in prison to run concurrent with his firearms sentence in Virginia. Her memo included multiple character letters from friends and fellow service members discussing Speed’s multiple deployments and his Mormon faith.

“Hatchet Speed, as a 41-year-old military veteran, has spent his life in service – to his church, to his community, to the underserved, and to his country,” Dixon wrote. “For those who know him and describe him as thoughtful, caring, and considerate, his recent involvement with the criminal justice system and attendant publicity is shocking.”

Dixon also pushed back on the DOJ’s characterization of Speed’s goals on Jan. 6. He was not at the Capitol to obstruct the electoral process, she said, but “rather to see it through.”

“Most importantly, he told his brother why he was there,” Dixon wrote. “Mr. Speed went ‘…there to await the results of the joint session, not to interrupt the proceedings.’ And while the mood changed for Mr. Speed when he learned that former Vice President Pence had not chosen the Republican elector slates, his hope was to view the remaining proceedings from the public gallery.”

Dixon’s memo did not address Speed’s purported fascination with Hitler or comments he made to an undercover FBI employee about studying the writings of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Olympic Park Bomber Eric Rudolph.

Once released, Speed will have to serve three years under supervision. He will also have to complete mental health treatment as a term of his sentence in the silencers case.

Moerschel was sentenced to three years in prison and Hackett got three and a half years.

• Oath Keepers convicted in Jan. 6 Capitol riot get prison in latest extremist sentencings

Two Florida men who stormed the U.S. Capitol with other members of the far-right Oath Keepers group were sentenced Friday to three years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges — the latest in a historic string of sentences in the Jan. 6. 2021 attack.

David Moerschel, 45, a neurophysiologist from Punta Gorda, and Joseph Hackett, a 52-year-old chiropractor from Sarasota, were convicted in January alongside other members of the antigovernment extremist group for their roles in what prosecutors described as a violent plot to stop the transfer power from former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Both men were among the lower-level members charged with seditious conspiracy. Moerschel was sentenced to three years in prison and Hackett got three and a half years.

All told, nine people associated with the Oath Keepers have been tried for seditious conspiracy and six were convicted of the rarely used Civil War-era charge in two separate trials, including the group's founder Stewart Rhodes. Rhodes was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison — a record for a Jan. 6 defendant. Three defendants were cleared of the sedition charge but found guilty of other Jan. 6 crimes.

Moerschel and Hackett helped amass guns and ammunition to stash in a Virginia hotel for a so-called “quick reaction force” that could be quickly shuttled to Washington, prosecutors said. The weapons were never deployed. Moerschel provided an AR-15 and a Glock semi-automatic handgun and Hackett helped transport weapons, prosecutors said.

On Jan. 6, both men dressed in paramilitary gear and marched into the Capitol with fellow Oath Keepers in a military-style line formation, charging documents stated.

“The security of our country and the safety of democracy should not hinge on the impulses of madmen,” Justice Department prosecutor Troy Edwards said.

Moerschel told the judge he was deeply ashamed of forcing his way into the Capitol and joining the riot that seriously injured police officers and sent staffers running in fear.

“When I was on the stairs, your honor, I felt like God said to me, ‘Get out here.’ And I didn’t,” he said in court, his voice cracking with emotion. “I disobeyed God and I broke laws."

Moerschel was a neurophysiologist who monitored surgical patients under anesthesia before his arrest, though he's since been fired and now works in construction and landscaping. A former missionary, he is married with three children.

Hackett similarly said he remembered feeling horrified as stepped foot in the Capitol that day: “I truly am sorry for my part in causing so much misery,” he said.

He originally joined the group after seeing vandalism at a commercial area near his house during the summer of 2020, when protests against police brutality were common, his attorney Angela Halim said. “He did not join this organization because he shared any beliefs of Stewart Rhodes,” she said.

Still, he later attended an “unconventional warfare” training, and in the leadup to Jan. 6 he repeatedly warned other Oath Keepers about “leaks” and the need to secure their communications, and later changed his online screen names, authorities have said.

“Taken together, his messages show he perceived the election as an existential threat,” said prosecutor Alexandra Hughes.

How the chiropractor and father ended up storming the Capitol, though, is “hard to wrap one's head around,” said U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. The group's increasingly heated online conversations and false claims of a stolen election “can suck you in like a vortex make and make it very difficult to get out.”

Neither man was a top leader in the group, and both left shortly after Jan. 6. Both sentences were far lower than the 12 years prosecutors sought for Hackett and 10 for Moreschel.

Moreschel was in the Capitol for about 12 minutes, and didn’t do anything violent or scream at police officers, Mehta noted. He also handed his guns over to police.

“Sentencing shouldn’t be vengeful, it shouldn’t be such that it is unduly harsh simply for the sake of being harsh,” said the judge, who also imposed a three-year term of supervised release for both men.

Moerschel’s attorneys had asked for home confinement, arguing that he joined the Oath Keepers chats shortly before the riot and was not a leader.

“He was just in the back following the crowd,” attorney Scott Weinberg told the judge.

Defense attorneys have long said there was never a plan to attack the Capitol and prosecutors' case was largely built on online messages cherry-picked out of context.

The charges against leaders of the Oath Keepers and another far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys, are among the most serious brought in the Justice Department’s sprawling riot investigation. Prosecutors have also won seditious conspiracy convictions in the case against former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and three other group leaders in what prosecutors said was a separate plot to keep Trump in the White House.

If convicted, he could face more than 40 years in prison.

• D.C. police lieutenant indicted on charge of tipping off Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio about arrest

A Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant who supervised the intelligence branch of the Washington, D.C., police was indicted this week, charged with tipping off former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio about a pending warrant for his arrest just ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Tarrio, the former chair of the Proud Boys, was recently found guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol attack, along with other members of the far-right group. Tarrio was not in Washington on Jan. 6 after his arrest in connection with the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner, as he was banned from the city by a judge the day before the attack.

Shane Lamond, 47, was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and three counts of making false statements, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said Friday. A federal grand jury charged Lamond with obstructing the investigation into the burning of the banner Dec. 12, 2020, when the Proud Boys were roaming the streets of Washington for a pro-Trump event.

Between July 2019 and January 2021, Tarrio and Lamond communicated "at least 500 times using cloud-based messaging services, including Google Voice, Apple iMessages, and Telegram, an encrypted messaging application," the indictment said. They sent approximately 145 messages using a secret chat function on Telegram that causes messages to disappear, the indictment charged, adding “at least 101 of these messages were destroyed.”

Lamond was in communication with Tarrio about the banner investigation and advised Tarrio that he told another unit within the police department, trying to convince them that the Proud Boys weren't racist, the indictment said.

"I told them you are made up a lot of Latinos and blacks so not a racist thing. If anything I said it's political but then I drew attention to the Trump and American flags that were taken by Antifa and set on fire," Lamond wrote in a message contained in the indictment. "I said all those would have to be classified as hate crimes too."

Lamond sent a similar message to an official with the U.S. Capitol Police, also cited by the indictment, saying that he'd told his colleagues that if they charged Tarrio with a hate crime, they'd have to charge what he called "Antifa hate crimes." (There's no federal law that makes politically motivated attacks a hate crime, but Washington law does allow for a sentencing enhancement if a locally charged crime can be proven to be based on the "political affiliation of a victim.")

While on a flight from Miami to the Washington area Jan. 4, 2021, Tarrio relayed information he received from Lamond about his pending warrant to another person, the grand jury said. Tarrio was arrested when he arrived in Washington the same day.

MPD Lieutenant Charged with Obstruction of Justice and False Statements | USAO-DC | Department of Justice

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• A D.C. Cop Allegedly Helped the Proud Boys. Why Hasn’t Liberal Washington Done More About It?

The explosive indictment of a District of Columbia police officer accused of aiding the Proud Boys ricocheted through the headlines this week: Before the Jan. 6 riot, Lieutenant Shane Lamond allegedly tipped off the far-right group’s leader Enrique Tarrio about police plans — giving a heads-up about an impending arrest and advising Proud Boys to switch to encrypted texting to avoid law enforcement.

In Washington, where Lamond is a member of the same police force that patrols city streets and battles neighborhood crime, the story has been greeted with a fair amount of surprise: After all, this is a cosmopolitan capital with residents from around the world, a place where the mayor, the police chief, and a majority of Lamond’s fellow officers are people of color. In theory, it ought to be an inhospitable environment for a guy who, according to prosecutors, told the “Western chauvinist” group that “I can’t say it officially, but personally I support you all.”

Yet that surprise may say more about the state of denial in Washington — a city where the national-politics class assumes they live in a deep-blue bubble — than about the reality of the capital’s Metropolitan Police Department.

The idea of a local officer with extremist ties was certainly no surprise to Michael Fanone, the former D.C. cop who became a national figure after being nearly killed by the mob on Jan. 6. Fanone’s memoir last year painted a grim picture of a racially riven local police force riddled with insurrection sympathizers even after scores of officers risked their lives defending the Capitol.

“They did not take it seriously at all,” Fanone said this week of the brass’s reaction to his bestselling book, which includes several troubling scenes from within the department and the local Fraternal Order of Police.

Now the Lamond case may offer another reason to investigate. The indicted officer is not some random beat cop: A 24-year veteran of the department, Lamond led the Intelligence Branch of the department’s Homeland Security unit until last year, when he was suspended after coming under investigation. That investigation culminated in a May 19 obstruction of justice indictment for allegedly lying to investigators who were looking into the relationship with Tarrio.

Tarrio and three other members of the organization, identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were convicted earlier this month of seditious conspiracy and face a possible 20 years in prison. It’s hard to believe the timing of Tarrio’s conviction and Lamond’s indictment are unrelated.

The indictment may make for difficult reading in blue D.C. According to prosecutors, Lamond and Tarrio communicated 500 times beginning in 2019, often via chummy exchanges. The day after Joe Biden’s 2020 victory was declared, Lamond allegedly texted Tarrio: “Hey, brother. Sad, sad news. You all planning anything?” Later that day, he allegedly advised Tarrio to switch to an encrypted messaging platform because “Alerts are being sent out to [law enforcement] that [social media website] accounts belonging to your people are talking about mobilizing and ‘taking back the country.’”

And on Jan. 4, two days before the assault on the Capitol, Lamond allegedly switched his settings on the Telegram messaging app to automatically delete messages after 10 seconds, and then tipped off Tarrio that he would be arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter sign torn from a downtown D.C. church during a Proud Boys rampage in December.

Lamond has pleaded not guilty, and it’s likely that his defense will be that he was doing his job: Cops work unsavory sources all the time, developing a rapport in order to bring in information. As an intelligence officer, he was supposed to anticipate potential disturbances — a mission that involves charming people like Tarrio so they open up

Who says there is no good news to be read . . .

interstate threats are punishable by up to 5 years behind bars each

• Man pleads guilty to threatening Maricopa County election official, former attorney general

An Iowa man pleaded guilty Thursday to sending threatening messages to a Maricopa County election official and a former state attorney general. Mark A. Rissi, 64, entered guilty pleas to two counts of making a threatening interstate communication.

According to court documents, on Sept. 27, 2021, Rissi left a voicemail message for Clint Hickman, current chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. “Hello Mr. Hickman, I am glad that you are standing up for democracy and want to place your hand on the Bible and say that the election was honest and fair. I really appreciate that. When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie [expletive], you’ll remember that you lied on the [expletive] Bible, you piece of [expletive]. You’re gonna die, you piece of [expletive]. We’re going to hang you. We’re going to hang you.”

On Dec. 8, 2021, Rissi left another voicemail for then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “This message is for Attorney General Mark Brnovich … I’m a victim of a crime. My family is a victim of a crime. My extended family is a victim of a crime. That crime was the theft of the 2020 election. The election that was fraudulent across the state of Arizona, that the attorney general knows was fraudulent, that the attorney general has images of the conspirators deleting election fraud data from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors computer system. Do your job, Brnovich, or you will hang with those [expletive] in the end. We will see to it. Torches and pitchforks. That’s your future, [expletive]. Do your job.”

FBI agents arrested Rissi in October of last year. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on June 26 and faces up to five years in prison for each count.

“Public officials who administer the most fundamental aspect of our democracy – elections – must be able to do their jobs free from illegal threats,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “As today’s guilty plea demonstrates, our Election Threats Task Force, working with partners across the nation, will continue to hold accountable those who unlawfully threaten election workers.”

Man Pleads Guilty to Making Threats to Maricopa County Election Official and to Official with Office of Arizona Attorney General