The longest term ordered to date in a prosecution arising out of the deadly rampage was sentenced Friday to more than 5 years in prison by an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump.
Robert Scott Palmer, who wore a flag sweatshirt with Trump's name on it during the Capitol siege, pleaded guilty in October to an assault on a police officer.
He was part of a mob that sprayed law enforcement officers with a fire extinguisher during the certification of the White House victory of Joe Biden. He threw the extinguisher at the police officers.
The 63-month sentence delivered by the US District Court Judge was exactly what federal prosecutors had recommended for the Florida businessman who said he was swept up in the pro-Trump mob.
While some Capitol rioters wore tactical gear and used dangerous weapons during the melee, Palmer was among those who transformed ordinary objects into dangerous weapons.
Chutkan said that many others shared Palmer's objection to the election results and that they thought the election was stolen.
She said that they stayed home. You decided to leave Florida and go to the rally in Washington on your own. That's your right. You are not being sentenced for your political views. When you left the rally and went to the Capitol, you were being punished for engaging in combat with a law enforcement officer.
The attack on the Capitol was a violent attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power, according to Chutkan, who is an appointee of President Barack Obama.
Many of the people who were inside the Capitol will carry that for a long time.
Since his guilty plea, Palmer has been in custody. In brief remarks to Chutkan, Palmer appeared to grow emotional as he recounted watching an MSNBC segment on his case while in jail and being struck by a car. He described law enforcement as "so brave" and said he was "so ashamed I was a part of that."
His defense lawyer argued that a sentence of between 18 months and two years would be sufficient, but not greater than necessary, and that he recognized Palmer's actions on January 6 were "inexcusable."
Palmer's level of remorse was questioned by prosecutors. They said that after admitting guilt, Palmer posted online that his actions were defensive and that he had been reacting to being tear-gassed. Prosecutors said that Palmer had pleaded guilty early.
Chutkan said that the post showed that Palmer denied his guilt after pleading guilty.
The longest prison sentence among Capitol rioters was given to Palmer, who received a three year sentence.
The Capitol rioter known as the Qanon Shaman was sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is where Chansley is appealing his sentence.
Scott Fairlamb received the same sentence after pleading guilty to assault on police.
Palmer told HuffPost that the Biden administration was trying to "villify the patriots" who joined in the January 6 violence. On Friday, Chutkan urged Palmer to look behind him in the courtroom to the marshals who ran over to the Capitol to help on January 6.
Chutkan said that they were the patriots that day.
