Federal Judge slammed U.S. prosecutors for seeking excessive sentences to some nonviolent Capitol riot participants, pointing out the treatment of BLM Rioters as an example of clear double standards. “I am aware that the government believes the January 6th cases to be sui generis and cannot therefore be compared with other cases. U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden said, “But I don’t disagree.”
He said, “It does seem like the government has set two standards here, which I cannot abide by,” adding that he can’t recall a case where a first-time nonviolent offender was sentencing to “severe jail time… regardless of race, gender, or political affiliation.”
McFadden voiced his opinions during the sentencing hearing for a defendant who had pleaded guilty misdemeanor theft. McFadden believes that the Biden administration wanted her sentenced to 75-days in prison and one year probation. He said that the sentencing recommendation by the government was “just so disproportionate to other sentences of people who have engaged into similar conduct.”
McFadden instead sentenced her to two-month probation and a $5,000 penalty. McFadden pointed out that the U.S. prosecution’s office which recommended jail for J6 had also recommended a lighter sentence for Code Pink activist with a long criminal record who infiltrated Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on September 2018.
McFadden noted that government prosecutors treated proTrump rioters harsher than violent BLM protesters in Washington, D.C. last fall, following the death of George Floyd.
Excessive targeting of J6 defendants by the Biden administration has had devastating consequences.
The government has also detained J6 defendants without indictment. This is a violation their constitutional rights.
