Veterans Who Stormed Capitol May Receive Harsher Sentencing
Prosecutors have sought to use the Jan 6 rioters' military service, and the training they received therein and later used against their own government, as justification for harsher sentencing.
Landwebs
In at least five cases so far, Justice Department prosecutors have cited a rioter’s military service as a factor weighing in favor of a jail sentence or house arrest, maintaining that veterans’ service, while commendable, made their actions on January 6 more egregious, reports the Associated Press. Several veterans are among the far-right extremists charged with plotting coordinated attacks on the Capitol, including Oath Keepers members who marched up the Capitol steps in a “stack” formation used by military infantrymen, essentially using training they received by the military against their own government.
In most criminal cases, judges typically view a defendant’s military service as a mitigating factor that favors leniency, but the Justice Department could conclude that rioters with military experience should be held to a higher standard than those without it. A handful of riot defendants were on active duty, including an Army reservist who wore a Hitler mustache to his job at a Navy base. More than 100 riot defendants have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of six months incarceration. Two dozen have been sentenced, at least three of them veterans.
