Judge chastises Jan. 6 Capitol rioter, a former high-ranking military officer, during sentencing: ‘Astounding and atrocious’

• Air Force veteran who entered Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021 was sentenced to 2 years in jail.
• Larry R. Brock entered the Capitol constructing and was seen with zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate ground.
• US District Judge John Bates described Brock’s habits as “astounding and atrocious.”

A judge sentenced an Air Force veteran — who entered the Senate chamber through the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol dressed in body armor and carrying zip-tie handcuffs — to 2 years in jail on Friday.

Larry R. Brock, a 55-year-old retired lieutenant colonel, joined different rioters on the Senate ground only minutes after safety rushed then-Vice President Mike Pence out of the chamber and a mob, upset over then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss to now-President Joe Biden, had breached the constructing.

A courtroom discovered Brock, who lives in Galveston, Texas, responsible on six charges in November, together with the obstruction of an official continuing, which is a felony.

In his clarification of the sentence, US District Judge John Bates described Brock’s habits in harsh terms.

“It’s really pretty astounding coming from a former high-ranked military officer. It’s astounding and atrocious,” the judge said. 

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The judge lowered the federal sentencing vary from 57 to 71 months to 24 to 30 months given the dynamics of this specific case, together with Brock’s army service and the dearth of a prior felony file. But the judge said he also took under consideration the intense rhetoric discovered on Brock’s Facebook posts, which have been learn aloud in courtroom, when figuring out the sentence.

“I think it’s especially reprehensible and quite frankly unbelievable coming from a senior military officer,” the judge said. “It’s detailed. It’s consistent. It’s both astounding and atrocious. And we have no acceptance of responsibility and no showing of remorse whatsoever. Zero.”

“I think it’s fair to say his rhetoric is on the far end of how extreme it is,” the judge added.

In one in every of Brock’s Facebook posts, he spoke of a “civil war” after Trump’s electoral loss.

“We need to execute the traitors that are trying to steal the election, and that includes the leaders of the media and social media aiding and abetting the coup plotters,” Brock wrote on the social media platform in November 2020.

“No way in hell we should accept this rigged election. I think SCOTUS needs to see if they don’t act that there will be blood,” he added in a December post, utilizing an acronym for the US Supreme Court.

In a post written on Christmas Eve that year, Brock stated: “I bought myself body armor and a helmet for the civil war that is coming.”

Prosecutors said Brock traversed the Senate chamber through the January 6 assault, going by way of the desks of senators sporting a helmet and tactical vest and carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs. The prosecution also stated that Brock sought to unlock a door that had been utilized by Pence shortly before rioters got here into the Senate chamber.

“Brock was a part of a larger mob that stopped the proceeding from taking place,” April Ayers-Perez, a prosecutor, said of the certification of Biden’s victory. “They were continuing to stop the proceeding just by being there. Brock was on the Senate floor where they were supposed to be debating Arizona at that very moment.”

Brock selected to not handle the courtroom throughout his sentencing.

In addition to the two-year sentence, Bates will have to serve two years of supervised release after his time in jail. He will also have to carry out 100 hours of community service.

Defense lawyer Charles Burnham said Brock was contemplating an enchantment of the choice.