WASHINGTON – A Donald Trump fanatic who assaulted police officers with pepper spray and called for more violence while confessing in the third person after the Capitol attack was sentenced Thursday to more than five years in federal prison and a $200,000 fine. It was.
Ryan Nichols pleaded guilty in November to one felony count of obstructing official business and one felony count of assaulting a police officer in the performance of his duties. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, spoke out about Republicans’ “ridiculous” false claims about the Jan. 6 attack and sentenced Nichols to 63 months in prison on Thursday. Be honest,” Nichols said on the tape, making “very harsh comments” about his desire for future violence.
The $200,000 fine is one of the highest ever set in the Jan. 6 incident. Lamberth said the levy was imposed because Nichols failed to cooperate with a financial assessment, and there is no evidence Nichols was unable to pay. A crowdfunding account set up for Nichols and her family has raised more than $235,000 since 2021. Ms Nichols’ lawyer indicated she plans to appeal the fine.
in one videoNichols, who was photographed before taking part in the storming of the Capitol, said the mob would lynch elected officials who voted to certify Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
“This is the second fucking revolution!” Nichols said as he marched to the Capitol. “Ryan Nichols said this: If you vote for treason, we’re going to drag your treason through the streets.”
After he was seen on video spraying a large canister of chemical weapons at police officers inside the Lower West Terrace tunnel, Nicholls boasted about his actions on Facebook and called for more violence.
“So if you want to know where Ryan Nichols stands, Ryan Nichols stands on violence.” Nichols Said In one video cited by prosecutors.
Alluding to Nichols’ hurricane recovery efforts and once being featured on daytime television, Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Brasher said Nichols was a “one-man hurricane” on January 6th, when he was violently attacked at the Capitol. He said he had rioted and committed violence. While the bulwark of democracy may not have ultimately collapsed that day, Brashear argued that January 6 was a festering wound, with the next presidential election looming. Brasher argued for an 83-month sentence, and he said the court needed to send a strong message that political violence was unacceptable. Brasher noted that Nichols had repeatedly said he was willing to die for his cause.
“I would die for this,” Nichols said in a video after the Jan. 6 attack. “But first, at the end of the day, I’m going to let other people die for their country first.”
Nichols’ lawyer, Donald Trump supporter Joseph McBride, called him “a good man who did bad things.” McBride called the words that came out of Nichols’ mouth on January 6 “insane” and compared Nichols to a “tropical storm” rather than a hurricane.
McBride, a former guest of Tucker Carlson who has repeatedly fed into conspiracy theories about the January 6 riot, also said he believes some of the right-wing rhetoric about “hostages” and “political prisoners” has gone too far. But he said the rhetoric the government used about the defendants on Jan. 6 was also inappropriate.
“Everything is wrong. None of this should have happened,” McBride said, adding that he has “toned it down” recently.
Both Nichols and McBride said they hope “Trump wins in 2024 and lives another 100 years,” but they wonder what role the former president played in Nichols’ radicalization. I didn’t say anything about whether there were any. But Nichols was one of many defendants on Jan. 6 who later said they felt fooled by Trump’s lies. In a 2021 FBI interview, Nichols said, “He cited statements from President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, General Michael, and others, saying that the president and other prominent legal leaders have misguided him.” “He said he no longer trusted him because he felt he had guided him.” Flynn and Lin Wood who helped form his opinions. ”
Nichols, a military veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, told Judge Lamberth on Thursday that he apologized for the pain and trauma he caused law enforcement officers at the Capitol. Through tears, Nichols said he wanted to help other people who were incarcerated, said he had learned from his mistakes, said his words were offensive and was deeply ashamed of his rhetoric. said.
Nichols said she was “completely crazy” but added that she felt her “debt to society has been paid in full.”
“I don’t support violence,” said Nichols, who reiterated his opposition three years ago.
More than 1,387 defendants have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, and prosecutors are approaching 1,000 convictions. Hundreds of low-level rioters received suspended sentences, but more than 520 defendants were sentenced to sentences ranging from a few days in prison to up to 22 years in federal prison. Only about 15 defendants are in pretrial detention, but the remaining defendants who were jailed on January 6 were convicted.
