Judge Hands Proud Boys Stiff Sentences as Prosecutions Escalate Toward Jan. 6 Plotters_我的网站
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Two high-ranking former members of the Proud Boys, a far-right militia group, were sentenced Thursday after being convicted of seditious conspiracy for his involvement in plotting the violent insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and disrupting the peaceful transfer of power in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
Joseph Biggs, the former second-in-command of the Proud Boys, was sentenced to 17 years in prison, and Zach Riehl, who presided over the Proud Boys’ Philadelphia chapter, received a 15-year sentence. Both were charged with seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting police, and destruction of government property
Fifteen years is notably lower than sentencing guidelines for Riehl, who also perjured himself on the witness stand and assaulted law enforcement officers with a chemical spray, both of which increased the possibility that he faced a sentence of 36 years to life.
Both sentences were roughly half of the 30-plus years the government requested as a penalty, but together they represent some of the most severe issued among the some 1,100 criminal cases stemming from the attack as the prosecutions escalate toward the organizers of the insurrection. They also marks the first in a series of sentencings scheduled for this week and next for other former members of the far-right militia group who were convicted of sedition and other high-profile crimes, including its former leader Enrique Tarrio.
The FBI’s sprawling investigation into the origins of the Jan. 6 riot, where supporters of former President Donald Trump fought their way into the Capitol by smashing windows and doors, using bear spray, flag poles and other weapons to break through barricades and overcome law enforcement officers, ultimately charged more than 20 Proud Boys in total from state chapters all across the country.
Upon sentencing, a tearful Biggs expressed remorse, saying that he knows he must be punished but begged U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly to allow him one more day to walk his daughter to school and pick her up at the end of the day.
“I definitely don't want to be a person affiliated with any more groups unless it's my daughter's PTA," he said.
"I was seduced by the crowd, and I just moved forward. I was curious. I wanted to see what would happen,” he said. “My curiosity got the best of me, and I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life."
Riehl was similarly remorseful.
“It’s my fault,” Riehl said, adding that he regretted becoming too involved with politics. "I let it consume my life and I lost track of who and what mattered most.”
“It wasn’t just January 6th. It was the events, the protests and all the political animosity that came with it,” he said. “I’m done with all of it. I’m done peddling lies for other people that don’t care about me.”
But as he handed down the sentence, Kelly, a Trump appointee, reminded Biggs – and separately, Riehl – that the event he helped organize was a “national disgrace.”
“What happened on Jan. 6 harmed an important American custom,” the judge said to Biggs. “That day broke our tradition of peacefully transferring power, which is among the most precious things we had as Americans. Notice I said ‘had’ – we don’t have it anymore.”
“The mob brought an entire branch of government to heel.”
Notably, Kelly applied a so-called “terrorism enhancement” to Biggs’ sentence – a distinction that’s so far only been added to sentences handed down for members of another far-right group, the Oath Keepers, but which seems poised to also apply to Biggs’ former Proud Boy colleagues upon their sentencings next week.
“While blowing up a building in some city somewhere is a very bad act, the nature of the constitutional moment we were in that day is something that is so sensitive that it deserves a significant sentence,” Kelly said.
B | 这升腾的烟火气，既展现出城市夜生活的蓬勃活力，也彰显着城市治理的精细与温情。“音乐任意门” 普通人也能站上城市C位8月7日晚上7点半，“下班以后”乐队在武林广场准时开唱，带来的是赵雷歌曲专场。
C | 数位素不相识的年轻人带着露营桌椅以及小吃、饮料聚起来，在广场一角摆开了“龙门阵”。“我已经连续来了好几次了，能在杭州的繁华中心听音乐会，氛围太好了。你瞧，‘八少女’也在跳舞、伴奏，这里办音乐会太合适了。”来自湖南的小盛是一位博士生，目前在钱塘区一家企业实习，他指着流光溢彩的“八少女”音乐喷泉笑道。从浙江展览馆南广场到“八少女”音乐喷泉周围，观众密密麻麻站了一片，连广场的阶梯上都坐满了人。夏夜的晚风褪去了白天的炙热，带着一丝凉爽，但大家的热情却点燃了整个广场。在这里，音乐成了一扇“任意门”，推开门就能陶醉在民谣的旋律里。据悉，这场演出是浙江省文化馆和拱墅区文商旅集团共同打造的“文艺赋美·音乐任意门”活动之一。从今年5月1日开始，每周五和周末，武林广场的“八少女”音乐喷泉前都会准时响起歌声。
D | 本次赵雷歌曲专场吸引了千余人观赏。正式演出从晚上7点半开始到10点结束，但是许多歌迷意犹未尽，不愿离去。自发的“开放麦”活动，持续到晚上11点才散场。
E | 浙江省文化馆工作人员介绍，“音乐任意门”打破了专业舞台的壁垒，不设身份、不限职业，让民间音乐爱好者、普通人都能站上城市C位。磁石效应 老牌商圈焕发新活力今年夏天，武林广场上除了“音乐任意门”的演出，还有杭州市商务社区街头篮球武林争霸赛新赛季的回归。80支来自辖区楼宇、企业的球队在这里集结，每周五至周日晚上在武林广场展开对决，将持续到9月中旬。原本属于年轻人的街头篮球，成了全城参与的夏夜狂欢。“八少女”音乐喷泉周围，“球个好市”同步开张。来自山西的小王在武林广场上卖冰绿豆汤、沙冰等夏日冰饮，他说，“每次有乐队演出，我的生意就会好很多，有时一个小时能卖300多元。”有歌听、有球看、有市集逛——武林广场上，没有人会空手而归。以武林广场为圆心，音乐、篮球、市集像磁石一样吸引着大量人气，进而为周边的五大商场带来实实在在的消费客流。今年以来，“音乐任意门”已经办了20余场；杭州女子半程马拉松期间，天水街道联动商圈酒店推出选手专属服务，酒店入住率同比提升30%，商圈3天客流突破80万人次、同比增长45%；全国服务消费季暨“味美浙江”食在杭州餐饮消费欢乐市集活动，武林商圈销售额超2亿元、同比增长35.8%，人流量135.3万人次、同比增长47.4%。放眼整个武林商圈，今年1月至6月，客流达1.73亿人次，同比增长17.7%；销售额达130.35亿元，同比增长11.77%。透过武林广场的热闹，我们看到的不只是一场场演出、一场场比赛、一个个摊位——更是老牌商圈焕发新活力的密码。
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