The 63-month sentence Chutkan imposed was the most severe yet in the Capitol riot prosecutions. The lengthy jail term prosecutors sought was nearly two years longer than the sentences given to Jacob Chansley and Scott Fairlamb.
She spoke about police officers, deputy U.S. marshals and members of Congress, who she said were the real patriots that day. The January 6 rioters appeared to be treated more gently by police than they might have been if they were not white.
The 90-minute long sentencing hearing was hard on Palmer as he came to grips with the lengthy sentence he was facing. He cried in the courtroom, with his children nearby. Robert Palmer Jr. urged the judge for a lighter sentence.
Chutkan said that her sentence needed to also factor in the grave threat to democracy posed by crimes like the one Palmer committed, as evidence continues to emerge of threats to future elections.
She said that trying to violently overthrow the government, trying to stop the peaceful transition of power, and so on, meet certain punishment. Not staying at home. Not watching the show.
The political leaders who helped stoke the unrest that led to the assault on the Capitol had not been punished.
Chutkan said it was not her role to decide who is charged.
I have no influence over that. Chutkan said that his opinions were not relevant. No one who encouraged people to take the Capitol has been charged yet.
She doesn't have the power to make decisions about whether to charge those actors. Chutkan said he doesn't charge anyone.
The Justice Department is looking at anyone who may have committed a crime in connection with the events of January 6.
The House Select Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been looking into whether leaders bear responsibility for the actions of their supporters.
Palmer apologized for his actions. He mentioned that while he was in prison, he watched a video about his case on MSNBC.
He said he was horrified to see himself on there. I can tell you that my memory is not what it should be. What actually happened was brought back by it. I was ashamed to be part of that, those officers were so brave, taking what the people were giving them.
Chutkan said that the rioters were not acting patriotically on January 6.
She said that attendance at Trump's rally and march to the Capitol was not a crime. He ran afoul of the law when he attacked police officers. She said that the police were the true heroes.
The judge said that they were the patriots. The U.S. marshals ran from the courthouse to the Capitol. They put themselves in danger to protect the people in that Capitol, some of them didn't know if they were going to see their children again that night.
They didn't deserve to have a fire extinguisher thrown at them. Chutkan said they didn't deserve to be called names.
The judge was pleased to learn that Palmer recently agreed to be vaccined for the coronaviruses. She stressed that she wasn't imposing sentences based on political views or health views of defendants.
She said she was not punishing anyone for their political beliefs or support for the flying spaghetti monster.
Chutkan said she was not sure if the usual criminal defendants in her court would have faced non-lethal weapons.
I wonder if some of the people that I see before me on a regular basis in this courtroom, charged with drug offenses and other offenses that are usually the subject of federal charges, if they had tried to storm the Capitol that day if they would have been met with rubber bullets.
Chutkan said she was pleased that Palmer was broadening his media intake but that it came with a caveat.
You tell me you are watching MSNBC. The judge said that a steady diet of any one of these cable shows is not a good idea.
Chutkan suggested that consumption of just one strain of media helped set in motion the events of the Capitol Riot and the consequences for people like Palmer.
She said that people listen to an echo chamber of information if they don't have Jan. 6.
