The growing debate over just how severely those involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol should be punished is now spilling into federal court—where two judges have offered seemingly competing views on the matter.
On Jan. 6, rioters coming from a pro-Trump rally broke into the U.S. Capitol, resulting in deaths, injuries, arrests and vandalism.The growing debate over just how severely those involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol should be punished is now spilling into federal court, where two judges have offered seemingly competing views on the matter.
"If Mr. Mazzocco walks away with probation and a slap on the wrist, that's not going to deter anyone trying what he did again," Chutkan said."It does not, in this Court's opinion, indicate the severity -- the gravity of the offenses that he committed on Jan. 6."She ultimately sentenced Mazzocco to 45 days in jail plus 60 hours of community service.
The remarks appeared to be an almost direct rebuke to a colleague of Chutkan's on the court, D.C. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, who in a separate sentencing hearing on Friday pressed an assistant U.S. attorney over why he felt their office was more aggressively prosecuting Jan. 6 rioters than those who carried out violence in the city in the summer of 2020.
Most judges, however, have taken a harsher approach in overseeing the more than 620 cases brought thus far against Jan. 6 defendants -- with some being markedly critical of the Justice Department for not taking a more punitive approach in cases where they've declined to recommend any jail time or opted to drop certain charges against individuals willing to accept responsibility early on.
"It's very troubling to hear someone say that the reason why they entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 was to essentially murder the Speaker of the House," Sullivan said."Extremely troubling." "That's one of the large questions in this case," Sullivan said."So many people up to Jan. 6 were outstanding members of the community, never been in trouble. We've got scores of letters from people, family members, friends, whatever, attesting to the character of individuals. But on Jan. 6 they morphed into terrorists."
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