The Justice Department is continuing its rigorous work to hold participants in the deadly 2021 riot at the Capitol accountable.
As noted on Twitter by journalist Ryan Reilly, Justice Department prosecutors are seeking what is known as a terrorism enhancement against Capitol riot defendant Mitchell Todd Gardner II as his sentencing approaches. Although terrorism wasn’t explicitly named in the several felonies to which he pleaded guilty, for the judge to accept prosecutors’ arguments would mean the notion of Gardner having committed terrorism would factor into his sentencing. In a memo filed ahead of Gardner’s sentencing, prosecutors asked for nearly 6 years in prison. (The length of time was specifically 71 months.)
Available information depicts Gardner as an enthusiastic participant in the violence outside — and inside — the Capitol. He was a part of the chaos recorded in the area of the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, which is where then-officers including Michael Fanone were injured. Amid the chaos, Gardner also encouraged others in the mob in their own participation in what was unfolding, shouting in favor of dragging police away from the Capitol building, among other things. Personally, Gardner also used pepper spray that originated with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department against cops, directly affecting multiple officers.
When later inside the Capitol, Gardner “also handed another rioter what looked to be a table/desk leg,” a prior press release from the Justice Department noted. As perhaps wouldn’t be surprising, what he helped get out of the building was then used to assault law enforcement on the scene, the department said.
The charges to which he admitted included civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, the last of which ordinarily comes with up to 20 years in prison if found guilty, although pleading guilty would often lead to a more favorable outcome for the defendant at their sentencing. These are the people Trump continues to defend — and sometimes, push to be unilaterally released — as he makes yet another run for the White House.
"No one can seriously doubt, with these specific facts, that Gardner wanted to influence government by means of force."
DOJ seeking terrorism enhancement:https://t.co/ANTO5NHGrD pic.twitter.com/2xMZTpPlZb
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) March 4, 2023
Image: Brett Davis/ Creative Commons
