Capitol rioter who carried Pelosi’s lectern sentenced to prison

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A man who was photographed waving and smiling while carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern out of the US Capitol was sentenced to 75 days in prison, among the harshest misdemeanor sentences connected to the riots on 6 January, 2021,

Adam Johnson, who pleaded guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, was sentenced in US District Court in Washington DC on 25 February. He also has been fined $5,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of communities service.

Including time already served, Johnson will spend 60 days in jail for his role in the assault on the halls of Congress. “A message has to be sent,” US District Court Judge Reggie Walton said on Friday.

Johnson, a father of five boys, travelled from Florida to the nation’s capital where he joined a crowd of rioters fuelled by a baseless narrative promoted by Donald Trump that the results of the 2020 presidential election were “stolen” from him.

“We’re on a dangerous slide in America,” said Judge Walton, comparing the Capitol riots to events one would expect to “see in banana republics.”

“That’s what we see in countries, like what we’re experiencing now in Ukraine,” he said. “That’s where we’re headed if we don’t do anything to stop it.”

Speaking to the court, Johnson said he has cooperated with the investigation and is “ashamed” to have joined the mob.

Federal prosecutors sought a sentence of at least 90 days, with the US Department of Justice arguing that Johnson’s actions reflect his “sense of entitlement and privilege” and that he “celebrated” by posting the image on social media.

Nearly 800 people have been arrested in connection with the attack, which sought to disrupt the certification of electoral college votes for Joe Biden during a joint session of Congress.

More than 225 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or Capitol staff, including more than 75 people charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, according to the Justice Department.

At least 640 defendants have been charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds, including 75 people who were charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.