A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., found that at least some of the hundreds of persons detained during the protest at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, had received “improper” sentences. This decision could have significant ramifications for those individuals.
The defendant and former Air Force officer Larry Brock’s sentence was deemed faulty by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit due to the improper inclusion of charges related to “interference with the administration of justice.” The court’s opinion’s author, Circuit Judge Millett, said that tampering with Congress’s certification of the electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election does not justify a sentence increase.
“Brock challenges both the district court’s interpretation of Section 1512(c)(2)’s elements and the sufficiency of the evidence to support that conviction. He also challenges the district court’s application of the three-level sentencing enhancement for interfering with the ‘administration of justice,’” Millett wrote.
“As for Brock’s sentence, we hold that the ‘administration of justice’ enhancement does not apply to interference with the legislative process of certifying electoral votes,” the appeals court stated, disagreeing with the conviction but upholding Brock’s sentence.
Fox News reports:
Brock was initially arrested and charged on January 6, 2021, on just two charges: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
The “interference” charge was added at a later date.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., Brock was charged after he attended then-President Trump’s “Stop the Steal Rally” on the morning of January 6th.
He then marched with others to the U.S. Capitol, entering the building at approximately 2:24 p.m.
“When he arrived, Brock ascended the Upper West Terrace and entered the building through the door to the Senate Wing. After exiting, he attempted to open a set of secured doors marked ‘U.S. Senate’ with an unidentified set of keys,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a filing statement.
The filing added: “Brock ultimately reached the Senate floor, where he spent approximately eight minutes walking around and looking at paperwork on desks. During this time, Brock told others not to sit in the Vice President’s chair or to be disrespectful, explaining that the rioters could not afford to ‘lose the IO war.’”
He departed the Capitol Building at around 3:02 p.m.
“On his way out, he deescalated an altercation between another rioter and Capitol Police officers and guided the rioter out of the Capitol. Brock spent approximately 38 minutes inside the building,” the attorney’s office said.
Because of the additional enhancement, reports stated that he received a sentence of two years in federal prison for that. Advocates have asserted that despite exercising their First Amendment rights, Brock and numerous others were tried and sentenced.
