Enrique Tarrio, former national leader of the Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his participation in the events of January 6. This is the longest sentence against someone involved in the storming of the Capitol in Washington, DC.
Ethan Nordean, leader of the Auburn chapter in Washington, received an 18-year sentence; Joseph Biggs, who organized the Proud Boys in Ormond Beach, Florida, will have to spend 17 years behind bars; and Zachary Rehl, leader of the group's Philadelphia chapter, was hit with a 15-year sentence.
The same judge convicted these four people: Timothy Kelly, nominated by former President Donald Trump.
Despite the harsh sentences, the Justice Department is challenging the sentences because it considers them lower than those recommended by prosecutors, according to court documents filed in recent days.
Merrick Garland's DOJ, for example, is unhappy with Tarrio's conviction because even though the former Proud Boys leader wasn't in Washington DC at the time of the storming of the Capitol, they believe that he deserves a longer sentence that is closer to the 33 years requested by prosecutors. The same case applies to Rehl, Biggs and Nordean, for whom they requested sentences of 27, 30 and 33 years in prison, respectively.
The appeal is peculiar because two years ago, in 2021, it was discussed whether there was unequal treatment between those involved in the January 6 events and Black Lives Matter rioters during the summer of 2020 when numerous cities in the country burned for months after the death of George Floyd.
At that time, the progressive media claimed no unequal treatment under the law. For example, the AP explained that an analysis "of court documents in more than 300 federal cases stemming from the protests sparked by George Floyd's death last year shows that dozens of people charged have been convicted of serious crimes and sent to prison."
According to AP: "More than 120 defendants across the United States have pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial of federal crimes including rioting, arson and conspiracy. More than 70 defendants who've been sentenced so far have gotten an average of about 27 months behind bars. At least ten received prison terms of five years or more."
Now, compare that number to those involved with the storming of the Capitol. According to Axios, through August 4, more than 1,100 people have already faced criminal charges for January 6; of them, 110 were found guilty at trial, and another 366 were sentenced to prison terms in connection with the attack, as revealed by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
Additionally, about 632 more people were found guilty of federal charges, and many could be imprisoned at sentencing.
Without a doubt, the numbers pale in comparison to those sentenced during the protests of the summer of 2020, when more than 300 people in 29 states and Washington, DC, were charged with crimes committed during protests that often turned violent, burning down businesses, destroying public property and even defying law enforcement.
DOJ double standards? Some judges suggest yes
This discrepancy in the law's treatment became a debate in the media, the political sphere, and among the judges who had to give sentences regarding the January 6 trials.
An emblematic case is that of Judge Trevor McFadden, who, since 2021, has criticized prosecutors for seeking harsh penalties against January 6 rioters who did not generate direct violence. McFadden claims DOJ prosecutors are setting a double standard, failing to apply the law equally against Antifa or BLM rioters.
"I know that the government believes that the January 6 cases are sui generis (…) and therefore can't be compared to other cases. But I don't agree," said the district judge appointed by Trump in 2017.
McFadden not only compared the Government's disparity in charging and convicting those involved in the January 6 events with the rioters of the summer of 2020, but he recalled that, in 2018, the DOJ did not act with the same harshness against the leftist activists who protested against the 2018 Senate confirmation of Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh.
"It does feel like the government has had two standards here, and I can't abide by that," said McFadden, who also noted that before January 6, 2021, he had never seen a nonviolent misdemeanor "sentenced to serious jail time … regardless of their race, gender or political affiliation."
McFadden made these criticisms after sentencing defendant Jenny Cudd, a 37-year-old florist and former Republican candidate for mayor of Midland, Texas, who pleaded guilty to criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
According to The Washington Post, prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Cudd to 75 days in prison and a year of probation; however, the judge imposed two months of probation and a $5,000 fine and recalled the case of Tighe Barry, an activist with the progressive group Code Pink.
According to McFadden, in 2019, the same prosecutor's office requested ten days in prison for Barry, who stood on a Senate chair, held up a sign and began shouting anti-senator slogans from the back row at one of Kavanaugh's Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in September 2018.
According to WaPo, Barry protested again three weeks later, violating a restraining order. Code Pink progressives constantly break into legislative headquarters and are weakly punished by the DOJ, stated McFadden, who insists that this demonstrates an institutional double standard.
McFadden's approach differs entirely from Garland's DOJ and other district judges, such as Tanya Chutkan, who assert that the severe sentences against those involved in the January 6 events go beyond the revolt itself. They claim that the attack was against institutions and democracy in the United States.
However, that argument is increasingly being questioned, especially with the case of Montez Terriel Lee, Jr., a man from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who broke into a pawn shop by pouring fire accelerant throughout the premises during the summer 2020 riots. Among the rubble of the site, the body of Oscar Lee Stewart, 30, was found, who, according to forensic experts, probably died after "probable inhalation of products of combustion and thermal injury (building fire)."
That is, Terriel Lee's actions led to the death of Lee Stewart, and the man only received a 10-year prison sentence that was, in part, sought by the DOJ itself, a decision that was criticized by senators such as Josh Hawley (R-MO) or representatives such as Chip Roy (R-TX)
Terriel Lee's sentence is twelve years less than Enrique Tarrio's, even though Terriel Lee said during his crime, "f*** this place, we're gonna burn this b**** down," and Tarrio was not even in Washington DC on January 6, 2021.
