5 ms·

Agree with this. Not to condone Jan 6, but the prosecution of those protestors was punitively harsh. People who should have been given simple fines for trespass

Agree with this. Not to condone Jan 6, but the prosecution of those protestors was punitively harsh. People who should have been given simple fines for trespassing were instead given custodial sentences.

bobmcnamara 2y ago
169 people were sentenced relatively lightly for brawling with capitol police.
ta-2847281492 2y ago
I sat on a January 6 jury that voted to convict the accused, who was then sentenced to several years in jail. I watched hours and hours of participant and security camera footage and listened to testimony from a Constitutional lawyer of the Senate and many law enforcement officers who were there that day (and could be identified in the footage). Most of the Jan 6 trespassers got off pretty easy, especially if they settled. Most of them who made it into the rotunda stood around gaping with dumb looks on their faces, like the proverbial dog that catches the car. They didn’t know what to do and they sensed they shouldn’t be there. Many of them then listened to Capitol police offers in the building and exited. But many didn’t exit and they formed a tense, violent, and scary mob, in the seat of our government, to disrupt the Constitutional transfer of power. It is amazing that more people didn’t die (a SWAT team quickly dispersed the mob outside the Speaker’s lobby right after the lone shooting) and there were many acts of heroism and smart policing to distract, disorient, and delay the mob, buying more time for evacuation of Members of Congress and for law enforcement to regroup in force. Many in the mob had weapons, which is a couple of felony counts right off the bat (possessing weapons in the Capitol, which is looser than you may think, and possessing weapons in the Secret Service restricted area around POTUS and VPOTUS, which is a felony that doesn’t mess around). The felonies and misdemeanors at issue in the case I was on were pretty clear and the jury reached its verdict thoughtfully, carefully, and quickly (we all quietly read through the many pages of the counts and judge’s instructions before opening discussion; it was an excellent group of people). January 6 was an insurrection. Most members of the mob were sad sack idiots, and I can feel sympathy for them as individuals. But if anything, the government did not treat them harshly enough, nor quickly enough. I am a bit worried about my own safety now, with all the insurrectionists having been pardoned. Fun times.
- k3vinw 2y ago
  [flagged]
- tomp 2y ago
  What kinds of weapons fid they have? If it was an insurrection, why didn’t they use them? Or was it the peaceful kind?
  - foldr 2y ago
    Ctrl+F ‘weapon’ and ‘gun’ in the House Jan 6 report. The details of what happened are exhaustively documented there and elsewhere.
    - tomp 2y ago
      ok thanks, I did, here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/html-submitted/index.html https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/html-submi... it mentions exactly 7 people that carried guns: Garret Miller Christopher Kuehne Guy Reffitt Jerod Thomas Bargar Mark Andre Mazza Lonnie Leroy Coffman Joe Biggs also, Alex Kirk Harkrider brought a tomahawk axe not much of an insurrection, we could say a mostly peaceful one
      - foldr 2y ago
        You have the answer to your question. I find it odd that you’re ok with peaceful insurrections. It’s not ok for a small mob to attempt to overthrow the government, whether they go about it violently or not. (Ironically, the fictional election fraud that was being protested would itself be a peaceful insurrection, so one wonders what supporters of peaceful insurrections would have found to complain about in Biden’s victory!) You can read the rest of the report if you are still inclined to view this disgraceful episode in US history as a ‘mostly peaceful’ one.
      - ta-2847281492 2y ago
        Knives are weapons, too, as are other things.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
stuffoverflow 2y ago
As a non-American I don't think Jan 6 was overblown. It had some real potential for escalation had Pence given in to Trump's demands. At the same time I do think the prosecution was too harsh, though that can be said from just about any crime in the US. Morally Trump is way more responsible for Jan 6 than any of the protestors.

bobmcnamara 2y ago

169 people were sentenced relatively lightly for brawling with capitol police.

ta-2847281492 2y ago

I sat on a January 6 jury that voted to convict the accused, who was then sentenced to several years in jail. I watched hours and hours of participant and security camera footage and listened to testimony from a Constitutional lawyer of the Senate and many law enforcement officers who were there that day (and could be identified in the footage). Most of the Jan 6 trespassers got off pretty easy, especially if they settled. Most of them who made it into the rotunda stood around gaping with dumb looks on their faces, like the proverbial dog that catches the car. They didn’t know what to do and they sensed they shouldn’t be there. Many of them then listened to Capitol police offers in the building and exited. But many didn’t exit and they formed a tense, violent, and scary mob, in the seat of our government, to disrupt the Constitutional transfer of power. It is amazing that more people didn’t die (a SWAT team quickly dispersed the mob outside the Speaker’s lobby right after the lone shooting) and there were many acts of heroism and smart policing to distract, disorient, and delay the mob, buying more time for evacuation of Members of Congress and for law enforcement to regroup in force. Many in the mob had weapons, which is a couple of felony counts right off the bat (possessing weapons in the Capitol, which is looser than you may think, and possessing weapons in the Secret Service restricted area around POTUS and VPOTUS, which is a felony that doesn’t mess around). The felonies and misdemeanors at issue in the case I was on were pretty clear and the jury reached its verdict thoughtfully, carefully, and quickly (we all quietly read through the many pages of the counts and judge’s instructions before opening discussion; it was an excellent group of people). January 6 was an insurrection. Most members of the mob were sad sack idiots, and I can feel sympathy for them as individuals. But if anything, the government did not treat them harshly enough, nor quickly enough. I am a bit worried about my own safety now, with all the insurrectionists having been pardoned. Fun times.

k3vinw 2y ago
[flagged]
tomp 2y ago
What kinds of weapons fid they have? If it was an insurrection, why didn’t they use them? Or was it the peaceful kind?
- foldr 2y ago
  Ctrl+F ‘weapon’ and ‘gun’ in the House Jan 6 report. The details of what happened are exhaustively documented there and elsewhere.
  - tomp 2y ago
    ok thanks, I did, here: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/html-submitted/index.html https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/html-submi... it mentions exactly 7 people that carried guns: Garret Miller Christopher Kuehne Guy Reffitt Jerod Thomas Bargar Mark Andre Mazza Lonnie Leroy Coffman Joe Biggs also, Alex Kirk Harkrider brought a tomahawk axe not much of an insurrection, we could say a mostly peaceful one
    - foldr 2y ago
      You have the answer to your question. I find it odd that you’re ok with peaceful insurrections. It’s not ok for a small mob to attempt to overthrow the government, whether they go about it violently or not. (Ironically, the fictional election fraud that was being protested would itself be a peaceful insurrection, so one wonders what supporters of peaceful insurrections would have found to complain about in Biden’s victory!) You can read the rest of the report if you are still inclined to view this disgraceful episode in US history as a ‘mostly peaceful’ one.
    - ta-2847281492 2y ago
      Knives are weapons, too, as are other things.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

stuffoverflow 2y ago

As a non-American I don't think Jan 6 was overblown. It had some real potential for escalation had Pence given in to Trump's demands. At the same time I do think the prosecution was too harsh, though that can be said from just about any crime in the US. Morally Trump is way more responsible for Jan 6 than any of the protestors.