Federal Judge Says Capitol Rioter ‘Not a Political Prisoner’
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Jackson has joined many of her colleagues in condemning claims that Capitol rioters were anything other than enthusiastic participants in the Jan. 6 attack, and declared she is sentencing them not for their politics, but for their actions.
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U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington said Karl Dresch of Calumet, Michigan, was sentenced to six months in prison because of his actions, not his political views, and that others who joined the attack on Congress as it met to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election could face prison time, reports the Washington Post. In a deal with prosecutors, Dresch pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of parading, picketing or demonstrating in the Capitol after four other charges were dropped, including a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding of Congress. Dresch has been jailed since his arrest Jan. 19, so the sentence is effectively one of time-served, and he will be released.
“He was not a political prisoner,” Jackson said. “We are not here today because he supported former president Trump . . . He was arrested because he was an enthusiastic participant in an effort to subvert and undo the electoral process.” Her sentencing came days after four Republican members of Congress showed up at the D.C. jail demanding to inspect the treatment of those detained in connection with Jan. 6, whom some Trump supporters have cast as martyrs. Federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties condemned such claims, with some even challenging U.S. prosecutors’ acceptance of misdemeanor plea deals for individuals involved in “terrorizing members of Congress.”
