Judge calls him “EPITOME OF THE RIOT,” but …
– He has mental health issues
– He’s remorseful and calls it a mistake
– He has promised to never break the law again
In sentencing Capitol rioters, judges should try to do two things. First and foremost, protect our governing institutions and the rule of law. That’s largely achieved when a defendant disavows the mob.
Second, hold individuals accountable. This was an assault on the rights of every American, and the sentencings should reflect that, to deter it from ever happening again.
This sentence represents a reasonable balancing of those objectives.
“When Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901, the embodiment of heroic American manhood became the undisputed leader of the American nation. By fashioning a violent, fantasized masculinity, and then injecting that sensibility into national politics, Roosevelt offered ordinary men the sense that they were participating in a larger cause. Roosevelt’s hypermasculinity appealed to men anxious about their own status, and the nation’s.”
Du Mez, Kristin Kobes ; Kobes Du Mez, Kristin. Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (pp. 16-17). Liveright. Kindle Edition.
Well this guy is straight out of the 1830s, or at least his wardrobe is.