Another member of the Proud Boys, Anthony Sargent of Florida, has been convicted and sentenced for his participation in the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot. To the court’s credit, Sargent was at least at the Capitol that day and took part in the activities, unlike former leader Enrique Tarrio, who wasn’t even in Washington at the time but was sent up the river for 22 years nonetheless. Sargent entered a guilty plea earlier this year, copping to one felony charge of “civil disorder” and six misdemeanors in a classic case of the “charge stacking” that we so often see in these J6 cases. The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, gave Sargent five years behind bars for his participation. Sargent did make one attempt at explaining his actions which sounded patently ludicrous, but that doesn’t justify the severity of the sentence as compared to what he actually did. (Raw Story)

A Florida member of the Proud Boys who threw a rock at the U.S. Capitol doors on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sentenced to five years in prison this Friday, HuffPost reported.

Anthony Sargent, 47, could be seen on video repeatedly throwing a rock at the doors and encouraging other rioters to breach the building. He also “physically separated a law enforcement officer” from a rioter and “prevented the officer from apprehending the rioter.”

Sargent pleaded guilty earlier this year to a felony charge of civil disorder and six misdemeanor charges including engaging in physical violence in a restricted building and disorderly conduct, according to the Justice Department.

To be fair, Anthony Sargent wasn’t one of the “tourists” who did nothing more than enter the Capitol without authorization and walk around. He did, by his own admission, participate in physical actions that were violations of the law and merit punishment. While he didn’t assault any of the Capitol Hill Police, he did use his body to physically block an officer from arresting another protester, which is a form of obstruction of law enforcement. He also threw a rock at a door, breaking a window pane, though it reportedly didn’t cause any other measurable damage to the structure.

The “ridiculous” claim I mentioned above was his insistence that he threw the rock to “help the police officers.” How that was supposed to help was not clearly explained and the judge said, “I’m not buying it” in response. I suppose you can’t really blame her for that.

A sentence of five years for breaking a window and momentarily impeding the progress of a police officer is far more ridiculous, however. I will remind everyone yet again that during the BLM riots in 2020, a pair of New York City attorneys manufactured and distributed Molotov cocktails to the crowd and firebombed a police cruiser. They each received less than one-third of the sentence that Anthony Sargent was given. This is in no way equal justice under the law, but it continues a pattern we’ve been seeing in almost all of the J6 cases.

Most of the judges who wind up hearing these cases seem to have a particular bent against Donald Trump and anyone who may have supported him. This shows up in the harsh sentences they continue to hand down. The situation is bad enough that New York Congresswoman Elise Stefank recently filed a complaint against one judge for her obvious political bias and public comments. (NBC)

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed a complaint Friday alleging judicial misconduct by a federal judge who has overseen various Jan. 6-related cases.

Stefanik, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and member of House GOP leadership, formally requested an ethics investigation into U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell over what the New York Republican called a “highly inappropriate political speech” by the judge in November.

The complaint, submitted to D.C. Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and first shared with NBC News, pertains to Howell’s remarks on Nov. 27 when she accepted an award at a Women’s White Collar Defense Association gala.

As noted, Stefanik is going after U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell, not Dabney Friedrich, who just sentenced Anthony Sargent. But they both fit the same pattern. Each seems to despise Trump and the “MAGA Republicans” that Joe Biden loves to talk about. And while they probably have no problem with Antifa, they see the Proud Boys as the horsemen of the apocalypse in political terms. So when they get one of them in front of the bench, they prepare to throw the book at them as furiously as possible.

Donald Trump has already suggested that if he gets back in office he will be pardoning all of these J6 defendants. Personally, I hope that he rethinks and modifies that position. I could see pardons for all of the J6 “tourists” I mentioned above, but for the ones who did admit to committing violent actions on January 6, commutations of these ludicrous, long sentences would be more appropriate.