A Florida couple who participated together in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, have been sentenced to prison.
The defendants are Jamie N. Buteau and Jennifer Peck Buteau, who both went inside the Capitol building during the day’s chaos and both, in general terms, confronted police, though only Jamie was left with a charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers. Inside the Capitol building, as a group of officers attempted to secure a portion of the premises, Jamie hurled a chair. “Jamie Buteau went one step further; picking up a folding chair, he threw it in the direction of police, where it hit a wall and ricocheted into the arm of a U.S. Capitol Police officer,” a federal press release asserts.
Outside the Capitol building, Jennifer repeatedly spat at police, and Jamie climbed atop an armored vehicle. Jennifer’s charge was a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, which has been used in a large number of Capitol riot cases. She was sentenced to 90 days in prison, while Jamie received a significantly longer sentence of 22 months, or nearly two years. Both pleaded guilty (in July) to the charges setting up these sentences.
Florida was among the most frequent origin points for participants in that early 2021 Capitol violence. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors in the January 6-related case against former President Donald Trump have indicated they intend to use his discussions of potentially pardoning January 6 participants against him in court, contending the remarks evidence the ex-president’s broader intentions around these events. From his first attempted excuses posted that very day, Trump has a long history of standing with Capitol rioters. Some on the Right claim they’ve been mistreated, repeatedly just ignoring the ample documentation of violent conduct throughout the crowd. And there remains no evidence of secret incitement by government agitators running an entrapment operation!
