A Florida man became the first criminal to be sentenced Monday for his role in the January 6 rebellion at the U.S. Capitol, receiving eight months in prison and ordered to pay $2,000 in compensation for a portion of damages to the building.
Hodgkins, 38, of Tampa faced 15- to 21-month prison sentence guidance afterwards. Pleading guilty to obstructing official action إجراء To boycott Congress to count the Electoral College votes. He spent 15 minutes in the Senate, holding a flag in support of former President Donald Trump and taking pictures.
District Judge Randolph Moss has described literally waving the flag to Trump as an unmistakable sign of loyalty to one person rather than the state and democracy.
“Although Mr. Hodgkins was only one member of a larger crowd, he actively and willfully participated in an event that threatened not only the security of the Capitol, but democracy itself,” Moss said. “This is scary for many reasons.”
Hodgkins had asked Moss not to imprison him. Hodgkins said he had no plans to enter the Capitol when he flew to Washington for a Trump rally earlier in the day, but he drifted into the rally along Pennsylvania Avenue. Once he entered the Capitol, he said, he apologized to police officers for the problem and provided medical attention to one of the injured hooligans.
Hodgkins told the court: “I can say without a doubt that I feel remorse and truly remorse for my actions in Washington. It was a foolish decision on my part for which I take full responsibility.”
Moss said he struggled to pass judgment on Hodgkins on his own behavior rather than on the more violent or destructive rioters around him. But Moss also described the riots as more than a First Amendment protest because they were forced to vacate the House and Senate chambers under threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, and Vice President Mike Pence.
“He understood what he was doing,” Moss said. “He was one of the few people who made their way into the Senate floor.”
Mona Sedky, the assistant US attorney general, recommended an 18-month prison sentence to promote respect for the law and deter future riots at the Capitol.
“The details of that day were very shocking,” Sedky said. “He was part of that mob.”
Sedky conceded that Hodgkins was not violent or destructive, but he did witness officers being injured and rioters spraying chemicals. She said he came prepared for the fight with glasses and gloves and took advantage of the violence of others. She said he was among about 50 people who arrived in the Senate chamber.
“In essence, this was a grave danger to our democracy,” Sedky added. 6 It was an act of domestic terrorism.”
Patrick Leduc, Hodgkins’ defense attorney, opposed calling the riots domestic terrorism and said it was a protest that led to a riot.
But Moss said the rioters boycotted one of the most serious functions of democracy: vote-counting for the peaceful transfer of power.
“This is not an exercise of First Amendment rights by any measure,” Moss said.
Hodgkins was among the first ten defendants to reach deals with prosecutorsFour for felonies and eight for misdemeanours. Those accused of misdemeanour were sentenced to one to six months in prison, and one to three years of probation.
At least 535 people were charged in the first six months after the attack, of whom 165 were accused of assaulting, resisting or obstructing officers, according to the Justice Department. The department said more than 50 people are charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
About 140 police officers were injured during the clash, which temporarily halted the vote counting of the Electoral College in Congress. The disruption led to accusations of obstruction of official procedures, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Dozens of conspiracy charges It was based on planning the attack through coded messages, military-style training, and wearing helmets and flak jackets.
Hodgkins told investigators that while walking through the Capitol, he saw other people breaking windows and getting into a knife fight, and others injured, but he did not participate in the behavior, according to the indictment documents.
“Our position is that his role will be determined to be very minimal,” Leduc said.
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