The Obama-appointed judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s election interference case in Washington has just issued her harshest sentence yet in separate proceedings against a Jan. 6 defendant that she’s presiding over, sending the Maryland man behind bars for over five years.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan delivered her sentence on April 19 in a case in which Maryland man Scott Miller, the former leader of a local chapter of the Proud Boys, was found guilty of assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous weapon during the unrest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Mr. Miller joined a crowd at the Lower West Terrace “Tunnel” at around 4:15 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, a location where some of the most violent clashes took place between protesters and police, per charging documents.
He struck a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer multiple times with a long wooden pole and later threw a number of objects at police in the tunnel, including a metal pipe or pole, a bottle, and a large black speaker.
Prosecutors said Mr. Miller later hit multiple officers who were defending the tunnel by swinging or jabbing a long pole at their heads and, later, struggled with officers holding a riot shield and tore it out of their hands.
Mr. Miller pleaded guilty on Jan. 5, 2024, to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.
Judge Chutkan, who recently put President Trump’s election interference trial on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court can hear his historic bid for immunity, sentenced Mr. Miller to 66 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and $2,000 in restitution.
The sentence is the harshest she has handed down so far in any of the multiple Jan. 6 cases she has presided over, exceeding the 63 months behind bars she ordered two defendants to serve for their roles in the riot.
In court, she called the Jan. 6 incident “close to as serious a crisis as this nation has ever faced,” while praising the officers who fought back the crowd as “patriots.”
“It can happen again,” she said, per Politico. “Extremism is alive and well in this country. Threats of violence continue unabated.”
Judge Chutkan recently made headlines for saying that Jan. 6 defendants being held on charges are dangerous and don’t deserve to be called heroes or hostages, as President Trump has referred to them on occasion.
A review of court records shows that, to date, Judge Chutkan has matched or exceeded the sentences called for by prosecutors in Jan. 6 cases.
‘Treated Terribly’
Over 1,350 people have been charged with various crimes in relation to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, ranging from misdemeanor offenses such as trespassing to felonies such as seditious conspiracy and assaulting police officers.
Roughly 800 of them have been sentenced to date, with nearly two-thirds receiving some time in prison.
The longest prison sentence—22 years—was handed down to Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys national chairman who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors alleged was a conspiracy to stop the transfer of power from President Trump to President-elect Joe Biden during the Jan. 6 certification of electoral votes.
Dozens of Jan. 6 detainees are still languishing in jail awaiting trial over three years after the Capitol incident.
President Trump has made the alleged mistreatment of Jan. 6 defendants a cornerstone of his reelection campaign, vowing to use executive power to issue pardons and free Jan. 6 “hostages” soon after taking office, if elected.
“They’ve been treated terribly and very unfairly,” President Trump said at a March 16 rally in Dayton, Ohio. “And we’re going to be working on that soon, on the first day we get into office,” he continued, while calling the Jan. 6 detainees “unbelievable patriots.”
President Biden has been sharply critical of President Trump’s statements about the Jan. 6 defendants, while Attorney General Merrick Garland has promised to press ahead with more Jan. 6 prosecutions.
Judge Chutkan has also pushed back on President Trump’s Jan. 6 defendant rhetoric.
“They’re being kept there because they are dangerous people,” the judge said during a sentencing hearing for Antony Vo, an Indiana man convicted of entering the Capitol with his mother.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the Justice Department’s controversial use of a law that was originally intended for evidence tampering cases only against Jan. 6 defendants—as well as against President Trump.
A Supreme Court decision rejecting the use of 18 U.S. Code Section 1512(c)(2), or “Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant,” in Jan. 6 cases could have major implications for a number of defendants.
That’s because it’s the most widely charged felony in Jan. 6 cases, and the mere fact that the high court decided to hear the case has already led some defendants to be released pending final Supreme Court decision or they have had their sentencing postponed until the matter is resolved.
So when does this Judge watch the 40,000 hrs of video and comment on the abuse from the DC Capitol Police Officers onto INNOCENT citizens at the US Capitol that day? There are more citizens languishing in prison, without having had their FIRST hearing and even more living day to day with chronic, serious health issues directly caused by overzealous DC Officers. Victoria C. White, a protester from Minnesota, was repeatedly struck nearly 40 times by a police officer in the Lower West Terrace tunnel leading into the U.S. Capitol during the events of January 6, 2021. The security video footage revealed this brutal incident. The officer responsible for most of the blows has been identified as Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer Jason Bagshaw, aged 45. White, with her back to the line of officers, tried to stand up, but the officer’s repeated blows to her head prevented her from regaining her footing.
3+ years have gone by and Victoria White is still plagued with permanent head injury issues. What Officer takes their baton and beats ANY person over the head 40+ times? Why hasn’t Officer Harry Dunn, Michael Byrd or Jason Bagshaw been prosecuted? Officer Harry Dunn is now running for Congress, Maryland – after he received a Medal of Honor. He testified and committed 100% perjury on the stand, that we now know was complete BS, malicious and has kept 5+ innocent people behind bars, one sentenced to 20 years. When in fact, those men were the ones that told the truth 100% – it was Harry Dunn who originally told the truth but later changed his story drastically and said the group of men called him racial names, were taunting and torturing him, etc. When CCTV was released, it proved what the 5 Citizens said was 100% the truth and Officer Dunn was experiencing a total breakdown – hysterical, crying, in a full-blown anxiety & panic attack and those men blocked anyone else from getting near him, kept that Officer 100% SAFE until he was able to compose himself – then they peacefully left the interior of the US Capitol w/o ANY damage, any photographs in anyone’s office or whatever. FBI Agent David Lazarus (Pelosi’s Top FBI Agent at the time) “confirmed” Officer Harry Dunns’ Tall Tale and said he witnessed what was happening on two occasions but was otherwise occupied and didn’t get involved. Again, the CCTV proved that he was 3-4 floors below where the “incident” took place and 1/2 mile+ away from the US Capitol in a completely different government building – so how could he have witnessed it? Both committed Perjury and should be charged accordingly and the 5+ men released; as they were innocent.
This Judge and all other hearing these cases need to take a huge pause, perhaps a month or six and watch the CCTV for themselves and then get a really different perspective of what all took place. NOTHING that the Prosecutors have presented even remotely resembles the truth when they are required or mandated to show, on CCTV video footage of the actual event if it took place inside the US Capitol or captured on the govts camera system.
One Day each of these morally empty people will face the BIG Judgment Day and I can rest easy knowing that the majority of Trump Supporters and those there on Jan 6th will not spend Eternity with all those involved in the Cover-Up, Sham Committee and passing harsh sentences on 1000+ innocent people, including all of the elderly or Victoria White beaten with a club over her head 40+ times….Michael Byrd for killing Ashley Babbit when she was 15+ ft away, unarmed and still had to climb over all of the furniture that had been piled against the door – – there is NO way that she was an imminent threat to him or anyone else. Those individuals in that Hallway could have left the Hallway out the other exit, stopped at the Snack Bar and grabbed lunch to go and left the Building before Ashley would have completely gotten through the tight window and then the obstacle course with the heap of furniture, desks, chairs, cabinets etc in her way – –
There will be a TRUE Judgment Day ~ We MUST correct our US History and make sure that the TRUTH is what is documented for future generations to read, discuss and learn from; not the Pelosi Play “Get Trump Chapter 89” playing out ~ We need accurate History without bias or favoritism to either political party – – Just The Truth!
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