A protection legal professional had a fairly heated alternate with the decide presiding over the sentencing of a person who was discovered responsible of taking part within the lethal U.S. Capitol riot.
Anthony Vo, 31, will spend 9 months in jail for his participation within the riots on Jan. 6, 2021. He’ll additionally should spend a 12 months underneath supervised launch and pay a $1,000 wonderful. He was convicted of 4 misdemeanor counts final September.
In a bio on one in every of his social media accounts, Vo referred to as himself a “J6 wrongful convict.” After he was discovered responsible, he wrote that the trial included “zero jury of (his) friends,” and added that it was “100% a kangaroo court docket.”
Throughout his sentencing listening to, Vo’s protection legal professional Carmen Hernandez argued with Decide Tanya Chutkan, who presided over the continuing, on a number of issues.
CBS Information congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane tweeted concerning the “tense moments” in the course of the listening to.
Hernandez not solely challenged a pre-sentencing report containing Vo’s social media feedback the FBI relied on as proof to cost him but in addition saved making an attempt to get the “sentencing delayed.”
Hernandez additionally claimed Vo didn’t violate the “spirit” of any situations of his launch when he attended a nightly protest outdoors a D.C. jail in help of Jan. 6 rioters who had been detained there. She referred to as the gathering a “prayer vigil.”
“Are you critical?” Chutkan responded. She rebuked Hernandez’s declare, saying that Vo wasn’t at a “prayer session,” however that he was “singing in help for these in pretrial detention for violent crimes.”
The Related Press reported that Chutkan additionally rolled her eyes and shook her head when she realized from a prosecutor that the vigil’s organizers referred to that gathering spot outdoors the jail as “Freedom Nook.”
“Is that what’s it’s referred to as? Freedom Nook?” Chutkan requested, in response to The AP.
Vo’s legal professional additionally voiced her discomfort with a tipster letting a probation workplace find out about her shopper’s participation within the protest, citing her immigrant standing as the rationale, which Chutkan additionally rebuffed.
The FBI gathered images and movies from Vo’s Fb and Instagram accounts that present he and his mom have been on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. His mom has additionally been charged.
In a single on-line dialog, Vo wrote statements like, “President [Trump] requested me to be right here tomorrow so I’m with my mother LOL,” and, “My mother and I helped cease the vote rely for a bit.”
In one other alternate, he stated police “just about opened up for us,” and that “they stood down and retreated after we clearly outnumbered them.”
Throughout Vo’s sentencing, Chutkan stated not one of the rioters ought to be referred to as heroes or hostages for his or her actions. She said that Vo has “doubled down on his habits,” noting how he has refused to specific regret for his personal conduct.
Referencing the “kangaroo court docket” remark Vo made months in the past, Chutkan stated she’s been “referred to as worse,” and is “thick-skinned.”
Earlier than he was sentenced, Vo advised the decide he was “sorry for all the pieces,” and added that he “wasn’t there to overthrow any democratic course of or something.”
“I don’t imagine Mr. Vo thinks the regulation applies to him,” Chutkan stated in her ruling.
Hernandez claimed Chutkan was “extra harsh” in her sentencing of Jan. 6 defendants than different judges, calling her an “outlier.”
“I could also be an outlier, as Ms. Hernandez suggests,” Chutkan stated. “I don’t essentially assume I’m.”
Chutkan can even oversee former President Donald Trump’s federal election meddling trial, which has been postponed.
Greater than 1,300 individuals have charged with federal crimes related to the riot, in response to AP. Lots of them are nonetheless awaiting trial or a plea deal to resolve their instances.
