CNN —A federal judge on Wednesday blasted a convicted January 6 rioter for downplaying the US Capitol attack and using the kind of revisionist rhetoric that former President Donald Trump often uses on the campaign trial.
“This cannot become normal… We cannot condone the normalization of the January 6 US Capitol riot,” US District Judge Royce Lamberth said while sentencing Taylor James Johnatakis to more than seven years in prison.
He did not reference Trump by name while sentencing Johnatakis, but the comparisons were clear.
According to evidence presented at trial, Johnatakis attended Trump’s rally on January 6 and then threatened to “break down doors” while marching toward the Capitol.
He has been defiant about his actions, saying in a recent interview that “we did nothing” on January 6, and writing about the “injustice” that he and other Capitol riot defendants are facing behind bars.
Persons:
Donald Trump, Royce Lamberth, Taylor James Johnatakis, Johnatakis, ” Trump, “, ”, Martin Luther King Jr, Henry David Thoreau, ” Lamberth, Ronald Reagan, ” Johnatakis
Organizations:
CNN, Capitol, Trump, Sovereign, Prosecutors
Locations:
Washington ,