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Revealed Apr 10, 2024 • 3 minute learn
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The choose overseeing former President Donald Trump’s election interference case rejected the notion Wednesday that jailed defendants charged with among the most violent crimes of the U.S. Capitol riot are “hostages” — a label Trump and his allies have ceaselessly used to explain the prisoners.
U.S. District Choose Tanya Chutkan stated the Capitol riot defendants who stay jailed in Washington, D.C., don’t need to be known as hostages or heroes for his or her actions in the course of the mob’s assault on Jan. 6, 2021.
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“They’re being stored there as a result of they’re harmful individuals,” Chutkan stated throughout a sentencing listening to for Antony Vo, a person convicted of storming the Capitol together with his mom.
Throughout his trial, Vo attended a nightly vigil that supporters of Jan. 6 riot defendants maintain exterior the Washington jail. The choose beforehand dominated that Vo’s attendance on the vigil violated a situation of his launch.
Chutkan rolled her eyes and shook her head when she realized from a prosecutor throughout Wednesday’s listening to that the vigil’s organizers consult with their gathering spot exterior the jail as “Freedom Nook.”
“Is that what’s it’s known as? Freedom Nook?” the choose requested, sounding incredulous.
At a November 2023 marketing campaign occasion in Houston, Trump referred to the jailed riot defendants as “J6 hostages, not prisoners.” Trump marketing campaign rallies have began with a recording of jailed Capitol riot defendants singing the nationwide anthem. In June 2023, Trump spoke at a fundraiser benefiting Jan. 6 defendants.
“I’m gonna make a contribution,” Trump stated. “There have been few individuals which have been handled within the historical past of our nation just like the individuals that you simply love, just like the those that have gone via a lot.”
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Trump’s trial in Washington for the election interference case was scheduled to begin March 4, however Chutkan agreed to put the case on maintain whereas the previous president pursues his claims that he’s immune from prosecution. The U.S. Supreme Courtroom is scheduled to listen to arguments for Trump’s enchantment later this month.
Chutkan didn’t point out Trump’s identify throughout Wednesday’s listening to, the place she sentenced Vo to 9 months of imprisonment. A jury convicted Vo of 4 misdemeanor counts associated to the riot. His mom additionally has been charged with Jan. 6-related crimes.
Greater than 1,300 individuals have charged with federal crimes associated to the Capitol riot. The overwhelming majority of them have remained free whereas awaiting trial or a plea deal to resolve their case.
Chutkan instructed Vo, 31, of Bloomington, Indiana, that he was lucky that she didn’t order him jailed after his trial conviction. She stated he has constantly refused to precise regret or settle for accountability for his conduct on Jan. 6.
“He has doubled down on his conduct,” she stated.
Earlier than studying his sentence, Vo stated he’s “sorry for every part” and is aware of he shouldn’t have entered the Capitol on Jan. 6.
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“I wasn’t there to overthrow any democratic course of or something,” he instructed the choose.
In his bio for a social media account, Vo has known as himself a “J6 wrongful convict.” In a put up after his trial, he wrote that “there was zero jury of friends and 100% a kangaroo courtroom.”
“I’ve been known as worse,” Chutkan stated, stressing that she wasn’t punishing Vo for his insult or his political views.
“I’m thick-skinned,” the choose added.
Chutkan has stood out as one of many hardest punishers of Capitol rioters, typically handing down jail sentences which are harsher than prosecutors’ suggestions. Vo’s lawyer, Carmen Hernandez, instructed Chutkan that she seems to be an “outlier” in comparison with different judges who’ve sentenced Jan. 6 defendants.
“I could also be an outlier, as Ms. Hernandez suggests. I don’t essentially suppose I’m,” Chutkan stated.
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