2023-08-31 21:09:08
“We just stormed the fucking Capitol, it was so much fun! January 6 will be remembered as a day of infamy! “, he said, laughing, surrounded by several members of the Proud Boys, in a message shared on social networks. Joseph Biggs, one of the leaders of the far-right American group who participated in the January 6, 2021 assault on the sanctuary of American democracy, was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison.
Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent
I ACCEPT
More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.
Prosecutors had demanded 33 years in prison against Joseph Biggs, a former soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, for leading some 200 members of the Proud Boys to the Capitol, the seat of Congress in the United States, in an attempt to prevent certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. This is the second heaviest sentence handed down by American justice in this case.
“No intention to kill people”
Judge Timothy Kelly took into account aggravating circumstances for acts of terrorism requested by the prosecutors, in particular because Biggs had destroyed a security barrier. But the magistrate stressed that he had set the sentence at 16 years less than the requisitions on the grounds that the defendant “did not intend to kill people”.
The accused had previously expressed his regrets, assuring that he was now removed from politics and any affiliation with a group. In May, he was convicted of six counts, including sedition, along with other Proud Boys leaders.
Although the assault on the Capitol did not result in a large number of deaths, prosecutor Jason McCullough had argued in court the seriousness of the event and the need for deterrent sentences. “There is a reason why we will have to hold our breath during the next election,” he said, claiming that the attackers had “wanted to intimidate and terrify” all those who oppose them.
This day of January 6, 2021 “shattered our tradition of the peaceful transfer of power, one of the most precious things we had as Americans,” the judge also said, insisting that those days were over. .
“I am not a terrorist”
Joseph Biggs spent more than two years in pre-trial detention, including up to 10 p.m. in solitary confinement. “I think he got the message,” pleaded his lawyer, Norman Pattis.
“I know I acted badly that day but I am not a terrorist”, assured the bar Joseph Biggs, gray hair and beards, in an orange prison uniform revealing tattoos on his forearms, bursting in tears several times at the mention of her daughter and her mother.
Since the January 6, 2021 attack, more than 1,100 people have been arrested and charged. More than half were sentenced, mostly to prison terms.
The heaviest sentence handed down to date was against the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, Stewart Rhodes, who was also convicted of sedition and sentenced to 18 years in prison. At least five people died on the sidelines of the assault on the Capitol and 140 police officers were injured.
#leaders #Proud #Boys #sentenced #years #prison