Joshua Pruitt, who is affiliated with the violent, far-right organization known as the Proud Boys, was sentenced Monday to 55 months — or a little over four and a half years — in prison for actions he took during the Capitol riot.
Prosecutors wanted five years from federal Judge Timothy Kelly, who imposed the sentence. During the riot, Pruitt perhaps most notably came very close to Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who was in the process of evacuating alongside his security detail. The Senate leader and his security team were heading towards elevators in the north part of the Capitol Visitor’s Center as Pruitt approached, at which point a member of the Senator’s team saw Pruitt heading their direction. Schumer and his security subsequently fled the scene through an alternate route. A member of Schumer’s security team submitted a victim impact statement in Pruitt’s case ahead of his sentencing.
“Every day I enter the beacon of our country, the U.S. Capitol, I relive the memories of that day, and none are as impactful as the moments I saw Mr. Pruitt approaching us with the intent to inflict harm to the Majority Leader,” the Capitol Police officer said. “It was only due to our teams’ preplanning of alternate evacuations procedures and quick actions that this impending meeting did not result in blood shed or serious bodily injury.” It’s not difficult to imagine the potentially dangerous and deadly outcomes that could have followed Pruitt or another rioter actually reaching Schumer. During a previous public hearing of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot, panel member Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said an informant for the FBI told the agency that individuals associated with Pruitt’s organization were prepared to kill Mike Pence if they had the chance, and the gallows that went up outside the Capitol, along with the chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” — the latter of which Trump evidently wasn’t all-that-concerned about — make the threats clear.
Pruitt pleaded guilty in early June to a single felony criminal charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, which comes with a legal max of 20 years in prison. Notably, Pruitt for some reason found it prudent to state during court proceedings this week that he still believes the former president was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election, despite the complete lack of evidence for the notion. “I did believe the election was stolen. I still do,” Pruitt remarked. Pruitt’s attorney also credited alcohol for actions the defendant took on January 6, where he — among other behavior — threw a wooden sign and a chair. During proceedings this week, Pruitt described throwing the sign as in “bad taste,” but the judge noted in response throwing the sign “was a lot more than being in bad taste.” Robert Lee Jenkins, Jr., a court-appointed defense attorney for Pruitt, said other members of the chapter of the Proud Boys with which Pruitt was connected should be worried about potential prosecution. Texts among members were found on Pruitt’s phone.
Featured Image (edited): via Anthony Crider on Wikimedia Commons, available under a Creative Commons License
