Adam Johnson, a Tampa man who attended the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 and quickly stole Nancy Pelosi's lectern for a "picture op," ought to spend 90 days in federal jail, federal prosecutors mentioned.
The U.S. lawyer for the District of Columbia wrote in a sentencing memo that Johnson needs to be sentenced to to 90 days' imprisonment, one yr of supervised launch, a $5,000 nice, $500 in restitution, and 60 hours of group service.
Johnson pleaded responsible to getting into and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds, a Class A misdemeanor, following his involvement within the siege on the Capitol constructing final yr.
Proof exhibits Johnson recorded a video of rioters assaulting and disarming law enforcement officials exterior the Capitol, prosecutors mentioned. He breached the constructing alongside rioters who have been getting into by way of a smashed window and tried to open a door he believed was to Pelosi's workplace, shortly after her staffers had barricaded themselves simply throughout the corridor, in response to the courtroom doc.
Johnson then allegedly stole and carried the Home speaker's podium to the Rotunda for a "picture op."
He destroyed proof by deleting movies and images from his cellphone in addition to his total Fb account, and within the days following the rebel, he texted family and friends concerning the riot and bragged that he "broke the web," prosecutors say.
Within the texts, he allegedly wrote he was "lastly well-known" – apparently referencing the picture of himself carrying the rostrum that went viral. A number of memes have been birthed from the picture, with many dubbing Johnson "Chip Gaines" for his resemblance to the previous HGTV star.
Johnson claimed he entered peacefully and was not an agitator. "I actually imagine it was my accountability as a citizen," he mentioned, in response to the doc.
The prosecutors additionally say Johnson desires to "revenue from his unlawful conduct" and publish a e book. "It's in fact a fundamental premise that a legal defendant mustn't revenue from violating the regulation," the memo reads, including that Johnson and his household have already got a good monetary scenario, as his spouse is a physician and he has not needed to work for 11 years.
"Certainly, then, he can afford a considerable nice to reimburse taxpayers for his half within the mob that brought about vital injury to the US Capitol and has resulted in monumental burdens on the legal justice system," the memo reads.
Johnson's legal professionals have requested the courtroom to evaluate his case. In courtroom paperwork, his legal professionals mentioned "he deeply regrets his participation within the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021," and that the "injury and violence inflicted on that date by others is opposite to every part he believes in."
"He has no historical past of violence and doesn't condone it. Whereas his actions on January 6, 2021 didn't contain the destruction of presidency property or bodily violence in opposition to regulation enforcement, he understands that his entry within the U.S. Capitol, at instances yelling and screaming, exacerbated a horrible scenario," the doc reads.