A Capitol rioter identified by the Justice Department as from Texas, who the department adds clutched onto scaffolding outside of the Capitol (presumably for the then-impending presidential inauguration) with her arms and legs as officers attempted to remove her, was sentenced this week to prison.
The riot participant, Micki Larson-Olson, is in her early 50s, and her case went to trial in D.C. Superior Court rather than federal court. She was found guilty by a jury this week of what the department summarized as unlawful entry onto public property, a D.C. offense. Most riot participants were charged under federal law. Something equivalent in the federal cases would likely be illegally parading, demonstrating, or picketing on the Capitol grounds, as the charge, which carries up to six months, goes. D.C. Judge Michael O’Keefe sentenced Larson-Olson on Friday to 180 days in prison.
She was featured in a recently viral clip from a Trump rally in Ohio touting the J.D. Vance campaign, where Mike Lindell was among the guests. Claiming that she was an Air Force veteran, she told the interviewer — Trump lawyer Christina Bobb, “I’m a January 6 defendant. Can we say that?” The footage was from the middle of last month. In the clip, she is wearing a distinctive costume featuring the colors of the American flag, and at the Capitol, the Justice Department identified that Larson-Olson was wearing a costume modeled after the fictional superhero Captain America.
Ultimately, half a dozen officers were required to remove Larson-Olson from the grounds of the Capitol as she physically struggled against them and shouted. In comments made on social media that were included in court filings in Larson-Olson’s case, she identified the nature of two flags the department indicated she was holding when officers took her from the grounds. One, she said, indicated support for the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, and another was “Troops for Trump.”
In a late night post from the day of the riot, she said: “I have NEVER felt BRAVER, STRONGER IN MY WHOLE LIFE. I GOT TEAR GASSED AND STOOD BACK UP ON A BALCONY SHOWING MY Q FLAG and a Troops for Trump flag… I got dragged through the grass by 2 cops, that did that twice and told me to stand and I said no.” She said that day she “gave” one of the officers a poem evidently titled “WE’RE READY TO FIGHT.” In other riot-related news, a trial against members of the Oath Keepers for charges including seditious conspiracy is set to continue next week following the recent end of jury selection. Members of the group stockpiled weapons in the lead-up to January 6 and were prepared for potentially lethal violence for Trump.
Trump supporter Micki Larson-Olson was sentenced to 180 days in jail for her Jan. 6 Capitol breach. https://t.co/9RerorOVdd pic.twitter.com/MzwT5F7z7F
— Karl Gehring (@karlgehring) September 30, 2022
Image: Blink o’fanaye/ Creative Commons
