To Defend America—Will Inauguration Day AntiFa Rioters Get “Exemplary Sentencing”?
11/14/2017
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Earlier, by James Fulford “Well, That’s Different.” DC Rioters Face 10 Years Prison + $25k Fine For “Felony Rioting”

Hours after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as President, VDARE.com Editor Peter Brimelow observed in his otherwise-dark “It Will Come To Blood”–Reflections On The Left’s Anti-Trump Inauguration Tantrum that

if the incoming Trump Administration is behind the federal prosecutor’s apparent intention to charge rioters with ‘felony rioting’ i.e. go for exemplary sentencing, that all by itself justifies the 2016 election.
Brimelow linked to Majority of 230 protesters arrested on Inauguration Day will face 10 years in prison and $25k fine as US attorney says they will be charged with felony rioting [by Anna Hopkins and Cheyenne Roundtree, Daily Mail, January 21 2017].

Finally, we’re about to find out. The stakes could not be higher—either the law is enforced against America’s emerging totalitarian Alt-Left or they will succeed in suppressing debate in the public square as completely as they have already done in colleges. (Or, of course, patriots could fight back—in which case they may find themselves attacked by Democrat-controlled law enforcement, as in Charlottesville. This is anarcho-tyranny). Unfortunately, early signs are not all good.

On Wednesday November 15, the first trial of defendants charged with felony riot and as many as seven other felonies arising out of the Inauguration Day disturbances is scheduled to begin jury selection. Seven defendants will be in the dock:

  • Jennifer Armento
  • Oliver Harris
  • Brittne Lawson
  • Michelle Macchio
  • Christina Simmons
  • Jayram Tortay
  • Alexei Wood
If convicted on all counts, their Leftist supporters claim each defendant could accumulate as much as 70 years in prison, and be fined $25,000.

Be still, my heart!

In all, at least 235 defendants, all but five arrested on January 20 (J20 in LeftSpeak), were indicted on felony charges by D.C. grand juries.

Note that none of them were held without bail—unlike the Alt Right Charlottesville Five. After all, these AntiFa were only trying to prevent the inauguration of the democratically-elected President of the United States.

As far as I can determine, and contrary to Editor Brimelow’s hypothesis, these grand juries were empaneled by Washington D.C. U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, an Obama appointee (and an African American). However, as is usually the case when the White House changes hands, he was replaced on September 24 by Trump-appointee Jessie K. Liu.

The Alt Left defendants’ apologists make two, mutually incompatible arguments:

  1. There was no riot;
  2. The defendants were “bystanders,” as opposed to “actors.” [Hundreds Face Conspiracy Charges For Actions Of A Few During Inauguration Day Protests by Eoin Higgins, The Intercept, October 25, 2017, 11:32 a.m.]
“Bystanders” to what?

“Actors” in what, a movie?

Is this a Woody Allen joke—"The riot was lousy—and there wasn’t enough of it!”?

The distinction between bystanders and actors may possibly make sense in discussing a riot, but if one denies, as the defendants’ supporters do, that any riot took place, then the distinction collapses.

The Totalitarian Left has defined its own violence as “dissent,” while redefining mere dissent by patriots as “violence.”

The venerable Leftist rag The Nation was also a riot—pun intended. The day before President Trump’s inauguration, it ran a literal call to arms by British-born, Brooklyn-based “anti-fascist” activist Natasha Lennard. She called for unrelenting violence against anyone to the right of Pol Pot, including during the Inauguration the following day:

[Liberals] forget, too, that while the First Amendment ensures that the government will not interfere with free speech, this has no bearing on neo-fascists having the right to be heard or countenanced by the rest of us….

Trump’s inauguration is an opportunity—with regards to spectacle—to set the tone of resistance to come….

One member of the “D.C. counter-inaugural welcoming committee” commented anonymously that housing space for 1,000 visiting radicals, in both church halls and houses, had been organized by their group alone. New York anarchists are raising funds to rent whole buses to attend. And, as historic anti-fascist mass protest dictates, there are plans for a large black bloc—a spectacle both intentionally threatening and anonymizing….

The decision to join the Women’s March or Disrupt #J20 should not be a benchmark for division. This line instead should only be drawn when someone, in professed name of democracy, would sooner condemn or even imprison anti-fascist, anti-racist actors before they would see a ceremony affirming and buoying fascism meet with interference.

[Anti-Fascists Will Fight Trump’s Fascism in the Streets by Natasha Lennard, The Nation, January 19, 2017]

But nine months and a day later, The Nation’s editors had developed amnesia about their complicity and acted as if a bunch of Randian libertarians had been rounded up on January 20th
Sam Menefee-Libey of the DC Legal Posse, a group of activists who provide support to the defendants, was more blunt, criticizing the cases as “blatant political prosecutions” designed to “chill resistance.”
(In general, “Resistance”, as used by Communists and their Democrat fellow travelers, is a code phrase for political violence).
The story of the J20 protesters should frighten anyone concerned about the future of both free assembly and dissent in the United States. [But The Nation doesn’t believe in them! —NS].

[The Prosecution of Inauguration-Day Protesters Is a Threat to Dissent by Chip Gibbons, The Nation, October 20, 2017.]

Anyway, the distinction between “rioter” and “bystander” is not a given. Conspirators and others may be guilty of rioting, without being active rioters, and one can be guilty of a violent crime via guilt by association. Two legal terms for this are “acting in concert” and “criminal responsibility.”

For instance, when I was a social worker, one of my black foster kids, who was over 18, and a group of four or five of his friends, surrounded and robbed a man. My foster kid kept complaining that he hadn’t put a hand on the victim, and thus that he wasn’t guilty of any crime.

On Inauguration Day, the situation quickly turned chaotic. Some members of the “protest” a.k.a. riot crowd adopted Black Bloc tactics, hiding their identities and taking part in property destruction. “There were windows breaking, chemicals in the air…The cops didn’t seem to have any control over the situation,” Alex Stokes was quoted as saying in the Intercept article above.

Stokes is another journalist who was arrested on January 20, though the charges against him were later dropped.

Note the phony, passive voice. “The situation” did not “turn chaotic”—the rioters made it so. The rioters did not engage “in minor property destruction”—they incinerated e.g. one stretch limousine after writing slogans on it; they smashed the windows in Larry King’s SUV; they smashed store windows. Windows did not spontaneously break, and chemicals did not spring into the air.

As for the cops not controlling the situation, I doubt Stokes would have appreciated it if they had taken control.

Prosecutors must weave the rioters’ defenders’ sophistry into their closing arguments—to expose the Totalitarian Left’s violence and mendacity, gain felony convictions and defend American liberty.

What’s happened so far:

  • One defendant has already pleaded guilty to felony riot: Dane Powell.
Unfortunately, and ominously, this case nullified by Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division of the Washington, D.C. Superior Court, Lynn Leibovitz (PDF). Judge Leibovitz sentenced Powell to 36 months in jail for felony rioting and felony assault on a police officer—but suspended all but four months of the sentence, and gave him two years of supervised probation. [Florida Man Sentenced to Prison Term For His Role in Inauguration Day Riot, Press Release, Department of Justice, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, July 7, 2017].

Judge Leibovitz also sabotaged

  • the misdemeanor plea of Cody Stewart.
She sentenced Stewart to 60 days in jail—but suspended all of the jail sentence on the condition that he complete four months of probation.

During that time, Stewart must perform 50 hours of community service, and pay a $100 fine.

Big whoop.

Leibowitz, let the record show, was appointed by George W. Bush in 2001.

(I’m working on finding out what happened in the other misdemeanor cases—see below).

The Totalitarian Left has been emboldened by years of lack of punishment, and implicit and explicit support from the Ruling Class. They have brought about a moral reversal, in which America’s violent, domestic enemies are treated like moral paragons, while white patriots are treated like criminal pariahs.

If America is to be saved, US Attorney Jessie K. Liu must make these prosecutions a series of teachable moments, and instruct these violent traitors that there is a steep price to be paid for treading the First Amendment and the rule of law under foot.

Nicholas Stix [email him] is a New York City-based journalist and researcher, much of whose work focuses on the nexus of race, crime, and education. He spent much of the 1990s teaching college in New York and New Jersey. His work has appeared in Chronicles, The New York Post, Weekly Standard, Daily News, New York Newsday, American Renaissance, Academic Questions, Ideas on Liberty and many other publications. Stix was the project director and principal author of the NPI report, The State of White America-2007. He blogs at Nicholas Stix, Uncensored.

J20 Defendants Yet to be Tried (Including the First Round of 7): 195

(PDID is the DC Police Department ID number used for tracking arrestees through the court system.)

  1. CHRISTOPHER T. AKERICH PDID: 719-556
  2. RICHARD ALLEN PDID: 719-555
  3. OLIVIA N. ALSIP PDID: 719-695
  4. WILLIAM AMANN-HOWISON PDID: 719-598
  5. RAMIZ ANDONI PDID: 607-642
  6. SAMUEL Z. ARAMBULA PDID: 719-719
  7. NICOLE ARMBRUSTER PDID: 570-270
  8. JENNIFER M. ARMENTO PDID: 719-616
  9. KRISTEN ASHER PDID: 719-773
  10. TOM AUBIN PDID: 719-764
  11. STEVEN M. BACKUS PDID: 719-786
  12. DAVID BAGHDADI PDID: 719-789
  13. VISHAL BAJPAL PDID: 719-590
  14. ERIK W. BARDO PDID: 719-557
  15. JASHUA BARNAK Also known as Joshua Barnak PDID: 719-565
  16. MICHAEL BASILLAS PDID: 660-746
  17. CASSANDRA BEALE PDID: 719-645
  18. ZACHARY BELCHER PDID: 719-703
  19. JOSHHUA BETLEY Also known as Joshua Betley PDID: 719-677
  20. KEVAL BHATT PDID: 719-750
  21. EDWARD BICKARD PDID: 719-586
  22. EREMY BINGHAM PDID: 719-747
  23. WILLIAM BOGIN PDID: 719-690
  24. PHILLIP BREWER Also known as PhilP Brewer PDID: 719-601
  25. JESAKA D. BROOK'AUSLER PDID: 719-652
  26. MADISON BROOMER PDID: 719-605
  27. DEBORAH BURD PDID: 719-617
  28. JORDANNA BURGESS PDID: 719-633
  29. SAMIR BUTT PDID: 719-609
  30. KIMBERLY CAIN PDID: 719-618
  31. CARLOS CABEZA PDID: 719-61 1
  32. SETH CADIVIAN PDID: 719-595
  33. BENJAMIN C. CARRAWAY PDID: 719-787
  34. MOLLY CARTER PDID: 719-717
  35. CARSON CATES PDID: 719-657
  36. MOIREE CHIU PDID: 719-711
  37. MAKENNA K. CLARK PDID: 719-684
  38. TIM COSTIGAN PDID: 719-654
  39. JOHN COURSEY PDID: 719-584
  40. JAMES CROIVIBIE PDID: 719-658
  41. JACOB CUNNINGHAM PDID: 719-575
  42. ISSAC W. DALTO Also known as lsac Dalto PDID: 623440
  43. KENNETH DELACRUZ PDID: 719-795
  44. CHRISTOPHER DELLACAMERA PDID: 719-602
  45. ALEXA DETTER PDID: 719-644
  46. EMILY DICICCO PDID: 719-634
  47. NICHOLAS P. DIFAZIO PDID: 719-772
  48. JONATHAN A. DUNLAP PDID: 719-559
  49. TRACI J. DUNLAP PDID: 719-709
  50. KATHERINE R. DUNLEAVY PDID: 719-653
  51. ROBERT EASON PDID: 719-697
  52. EMMA ENGLE PDID: 719-642
  53. IVIALLY ESPAILLAT PDID: 719-662
  54. JARED FARLEY PDID: 719-666
  55. ELLA FASSLER PDID: 719-663
  56. ANTHONY FELICE PDID: 719-566
  57. DANIEL FILSTEIN PDID: 719-720
  58. MATTHEW FITZPATRICK PDID: 719-615
  59. COLIN FLOOD PDID: 719-562
  60. JOHN R. FLYNN PDID: 719-553
  61. DANA FRAULA PDID: 719-623
  62. BENJAIV IN FREEDMAN-PEEL PDID: 719-123
  63. LORI B. FREYE PDID: 719-694
  64. DAVID FULKERSON PDID: 719-785
  65. TRENT FULTON PDID: 719-758
  66. ALEXANDRA GEDRA PDID: 719-646
  67. SARAH GILBERT PDID: 719-664
  68. PHILLIP E. GLASER PDID: 719-650
  69. PHOENIX R. GODWIN PDID: 719-741
  70. SALINE GOLENBERG PDID: 719-735
  71. MICHAEL GONZALEZ PDID: 719-793
  72. JOSEPH GORE PDID: 719-738
  73. LAN GRANT Also known as lan Grant PDID: 719-770
  74. ALEXA GRAZIO PDID: 719-665
  75. ANASTASIYA GRISCHKEVICH PDID: 719-753
  76. KILEY HABERMAN PDID: 719-743
  77. SARAH E. HAILEY PDID: 719-722
  78. ANYA M. HARJUNG PDID: 719-713
  79. ALEX HARRIS PDID: 719-710
  80. OLIVER HARRIS PDID: 119-152
  81. KAYLA R. HENAGHAN PDID: 719-632
  82. SEAN T. HENDLEY PDID: 719-777
  83. MATTHEW HESSLER PDID: DCTN: U17013290
  84. HEATHER HIGBY PDID: 719-627
  85. SASHA S. HILL Also known as Sahsa Hill PDID: 719-641
  86. EMILY E. HORSTMAN PDID: 719-631
  87. JAMES M. HOOPES PDID: 570-253
  88. PETER HYNDMAN PDID: 719-686
  89. SAUL JAFFE PDID: 719-568
  90. PATRICK JONES PDID: 719-622
  91. ETKAR SURETT JUNWIRTH PDID: 119-734
  92. SPENCER KAAZ PDID: 719-767
  93. DANIEL KAUFMAN PDID: 719-596
  94. ZOE KASEMAN PDID: 719-626
  95. KRISTINA KELLY PDID: 719-671
  96. RYAN KEATING PDID: 719-691
  97. SAMUEL J. KITCH PDID: 719-708
  98. ALEXANDRA H, KRALES PDID: 719-725
  99. ELIZABETH LAGESSE PDID: 719-740
  100. BRITTNE LAWSON PDID: 719-673
  101. ELISA Y. LEE PDID: 719-608
  102. ERINN N. LEMKEY Also known as Erin N. LemkeY PDID: 719-712
  103. CONNOR D. LINDEN PDID: 719-759
  104. CHRISTOPHER M. LITCHFIELD PDID: 719-781
  105. MICHAEL LOADENTHAL PDID: 719-102
  106. STEPHEN LOUGHMAN PDID: 719-576
  107. ALEXSANDRA LUNDINA PDID: 719-769
  108. JOSEPH LUPO PDID: 719-621
  109. DUKE TVIABIROU PDID: 719-571
  110. MICHELLE MACCHIO PDID: 719-648
  111. HANNAH E, MARTIN PDID: 719-660
  112. RUDY MARTINEZ PDID: 719-569
  113. MARISA R. MATTHEWS PDID: 719-700
  114. ROBERT MATYAS PDID: 719-597
  115. LOUIS MAZZEI PDID: 719-771
  116. PAYTON MCDONALD PDID: 719-572
  117. LUKE MCGOWAN-ARNOLD PDID: 719-796
  118. ASHLEY MACLAREN PDID: 719-612
  119. SHANE MCPARLAND PDID: 719-797
  120. DANIEL MELTZER PDID: 578-108
  121. FARYN MESSICK PDID: 719-640
  122. GABRIEL W. MIELKE PDID: 719-552
  123. ROBERT MILLER PDID: 719-737
  124. CHLOE S. NAGY PDID: 719-782
  125. TROY NEVES PDID: 719-696
  126. JEREMY PAMEN PDID: 719-588
  127. ALESSANDRO PANE PDID: 719-800
  128. SAVANNAH D. PATTERSON PDID: 719-779
  129. TYLAN PAXTON PDID: 719-757
  130. CAIVILO PEREIRA PDID: 719-594
  131. DYLAN PETROHILOS PDID: DCTN: U17013291
  132. EMELINE PHIPPS PDID: 719-637
  133. CARLO PIANTINI PDID: 719-593
  134. AVERY PITTMAN PDID: 719-693
  135. CASSIDY M. PLAUD PDID: 719-728
  136. CAMERON G, POWELL PDID: 719-788
  137. STEPHANIE RANDAZZO PDID: 719-679
  138. DUNCAN RANSLEM PDID: 719-687
  139. JORDAN REID PDID: 719-579
  140. DANIEL RENGEL PDID: 719-707
  141. CALY RETHERFORD Also known as Clay Retherford PDID: 719-689
  142. COLTON RICHARDSON PDID: 719-761
  143. ELIZABETH ROMAKER PDID: 719-638
  144. ROSA RONCALES PDID: 719-651
  145. KAITLYN RORKE PDID: 719-676
  146. TIMOTHY C, ROSE PDID: 719-674
  147. RACHELL P. RUSSELL PDID: 719-763
  148. JUDAH RUBIN PDID: 719-790
  149. REBEKAH SCHILLER PDID: 719-647
  150. ERIC SCHIMMEL PDID: 719-661
  151. AARON M. SCHOEN PDID: 719-715
  152. JEREMEIAH D. SELLERS. Also known as Jeremiah D. Sellers PDID: 719-775
  153. RANDALL D. SETZER PDID: 719-783
  154. TOVIA SHAPIRO PDID: 719-733
  155. RAGHAV SHARMA PDID: 719-614
  156. LIANNE E. SHERMAN PDID: 719-766
  157. NICHOLAS S. SHEPARD PDID: 719-583
  158. DAVID SILVERBERG PDID: 719-585
  159. CHRISTINA M. SIMMONS PDID: 719-688
  160. ADAM SIMPSON PDID: 719-681
  161. DYLAN SLUSARZ PDID: 719-625
  162. SARAH SMITHSON PDID: 719-683
  163. NOELLE SMOOT Also known as Nolle Smoot PDID: 719-668
  164. MATTHEW STEARNS PDID: 719-760
  165. JOAN STEFFON Also known as Soan Steffon PDID: 719-778
  166. SHARLEEN STINGER PDID: 719-704
  167. SYNDIE STOCKS PDID: 719-682
  168. ALISA STONE PDID: 719-656
  169. BRETON STRASBURGER PDID: 719-746
  170. DAVID C. STUBBS PDID: 719-604
  171. ANDREW SWITZER PDID: 719-729
  172. MASSEYTHOMAS Also known as Thomas Massey PDID: 719-591
  173. JAYRAM TORATY PDID: 719-603
  174. CAROLINE UNGER PDID: 719-754
  175. CHRISTIAN VALENCIA PDID: 719-599
  176. ZACHARY VARY PDID: 719-699
  177. ALVARO ORTIZ-VAZQUEZ PDID: 719-756
  178. ARTURO VASQUEZ PDID: 719-692
  179. NORA WALKER PDID: 719-730
  180. CASEY S. WEBBER Also known as Cathasigh Webber PDID: 661-745
  181. OLIVER WEILEIN PDID: 719-577
  182. MICHAEL WEBERMANN PDID: 719-685
  183. NICHOLAS WEBSTER PDID: 719-744
  184. SHAWN WESTFAHL PDID: 642-335
  185. JACOB WILKERSON PDID: 719-705
  186. EMMELINE WILKS-DUPIOSE PDID: 719-678
  187. CHRISTINA WINSOR PDID: 719-628
  188. ALEXEI WOOD PDID: 719-592
  189. LUCAS WOODEN PDID: 719-731
  190. KYLE WRIGHT PDID: 719-549 DCTN: U17013285
  191. JADA R. YOUNG PDID: 719-613
  192. LEAH R. YOUNG PDID: 719-726
  193. TAYLOR ZARKIN PDID: 719-148
  194. MIRIAM R. ZEMEL PDID: 719-736
  195. Aaron Cantu
J20 Defendant Pleading Guilty to Felonies (1)
  1. DANE POWELL PDID: 719-810 (F)
J20 Defendants Who Pleaded Guilty to Misdemeanors (19)
  1. DEVIN E BARTOLOMED Aka Devin Mardvich Aka Devin Bartolomeo PDID: 535-643 M
  2. GABRIELLA BRUCE PDID: 719-639 (M)
  3. KYLE BURCHAM PDID: 719-670 (M)
  4. SARA CALLAHAN PDID: 719-643 (M)
  5. ZACHARY CALLAHAN PDID: 655-304 (M)
  6. HANNA DEMARTE PDID: 719-636 (M)
  7. MATTHEW FICHTNER PDID: 719-739 (M)
  8. IAN GRAPE PDID: 719-589 (M)
  9. NATHANIEL H. JAFFE PDID: 719-560 (M)
  10. ANDREW JOUNG PDID: 719-573 (M)
  11. SYDNEY A. LESLIE PDID: 719-606 (M)
  12. JOCELYN MITCHELL PDID: 719-635 (M)
  13. CHRISTOPHER PATRICK PDID: 719-675 (M)
  14. MATTHEW PINK PDID: 719-751 (M)
  15. PETER SOELLER PDID: 719-610 (M)
  16. CODY STEWART PDID: 719-721 (M)
  17. ROBERT TOOMEY PDID: 719-580 (M)
  18. Benjamin Pennacchio (M)
  19. Jack Sorensen (M)
 

J20 Defendants Whose Charges were Dismissed (20)

  1. Michael Adkins (2/8/17) (D)
  2. Diane Akerman (2/3/17) (D)
  3. John Baker (2/8/17) (D)
  4. Bradley Collins (4/28/17) (D)
  5. Alexander Contompasis  (2/21/17) (D)
  6. Emily Dicicco (6/8/17) (D)
  7. Evan Engel (2/15/17) (D)
  8. James Hicks (2/6/17) (D)
  9. Matthew Hopard (1/30/17) (D)
  10. Shay Horse (2/21/17) (D)
  11. John Keller (1/30/17) (D)
  12. Sagen Lancaster (4/28/17) (D)
  13. Paige McElravy (2/3/17) (D)
  14. Cheney Orr (2/21/17) (D)
  15. Alexander Penley (2/3/17) (D)
  16. Layne Puplin (2/3/17) (D)
  17. Alexander Rubinstein (1/30/17) (D)
  18. Jesse Schultz (2/8/17) (D)
  19. Christopher Stella (2/3/17) (D)
  20. James Sullivan (4/28/17) (D)
 
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