On Thursday, a senior judge at the D.C. district court vehemently criticized those he accuses of trying to ‘rewrite history’ regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, expressing his ‘shock’ at the depiction of the attackers as ‘hostages.’
Judge’s Shock
“I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness,” said senior judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee with four decades in the judiciary.
Rioters or Tourists?
In his written decision, he raised the alarm over public figures who falsely claimed the rioters were ‘orderly’ like tourists or labeled January 6 convicts as ‘political prisoners’ or even ‘hostages.’
‘Rewriting’ Jan. 6
“I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages.’ That is all preposterous,” Lamberth expressed.
Fearing More Danger
Lamberth expressed concern that such statements might indicate impending threats to America, noting, “But the Court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.”
Political Prisoner Claims
Judge Lamberth’s remarks emerged during his ruling on the sentencing of James Little, a Jan. 6 defendant convicted on misdemeanor charges. Little, claiming to be a target of political prosecution, was initially sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years of probation.
High-Profile Cases
Despite completing his jail term, a federal appeals court returned his case to Lamberth for resentencing. With a history of overseeing notable Jan. 6 cases, including those of ‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Chansley and ex-Proud Boys member Christopher Worrell, Lamberth commented on Little’s defense.
‘Meritless justifications’
In response to Little’s claims, Judge Lamberth wrote, “The Court is accustomed to defendants who refuse to accept that they did anything wrong. But in my thirty-seven years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream.”
‘Fight Like Hell’
On January 6, 2021, following his loss in the 2020 election, then-President Donald Trump addressed supporters at the Ellipse near the White House, urging them to march to the Capitol ‘peacefully and patriotically,’ while also declaring, ‘If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.’
Trump’s Riot Narrative
This speech preceded the storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, a key element in Trump’s ongoing federal case related to election subversion. On the third anniversary of these events, Trump, who was campaigning in Iowa for the upcoming GOP caucuses, has been downplaying that day’s violence, labeling those arrested and convicted as ‘hostages.’
Prisoners or Hostages?
“The J6 hostages, I call them. Nobody has been treated ever in history so badly as those people nobody’s ever been treated in our country,” Trump said at a Friday Iowa rally. He also expressed his view that jailing the Capitol rioters was “one of the saddest things in the history of our country,” hinting at possible amnesty for many of them.
Judicial Perspective
Judge Lamberth, while avoiding direct references to Trump or other GOP figures using the term ‘hostages,’ drew from his extensive judicial background and involvement in numerous Jan. 6 prosecutions to clarify what he sees as the facts.
Condoning Lawbreakers?
“The Court cannot condone the shameless attempts by Mr. Little or anyone else to misinterpret or misrepresent what happened,” Lamberth remarked. “It cannot condone the notion that those who broke the law on January 6 did nothing wrong, or that those duly convicted with all the safeguards of the United States Constitution, including a right to trial by jury in felony cases, are political prisoners or hostages.”
Over 1,265 Charged
Over the three years following the attack on the Capitol, federal authorities have charged over 1,265 individuals from almost every state and Washington, D.C., leading to over 460 convictions and imprisonments, as per recent data from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Meanwhile, Trump’s assertions of widespread electoral fraud have been dismissed in over 60 court cases, as reported by PolitiFact.
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