While we go through the long, but necessarily thorough process of sorting out punishments for the insurrectionists, many have pointed out that there have been a lot of kid gloves used. I do not dispute that. I have personally found numerous instances of slaps on the wrists relative to the actual crime committed, and especially in the context of what the crime represents. But one man had such a history that even without being present, he was case was still approached as if he took a selfie of himself in the Capitol rotunda.
A Texas man received the longest punishment connected to the January 6 Capitol insurrection on Thursday, despite not even being present at the riot. A federal judge sentenced Troy Smocks, 58, to 14 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one felony count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce. He was originally also indicted for a second count of the same offense, but it was rescinded when he pleaded guilty.
Smocks admitted to sending several threatening messages onto Parler, a social media app, on January 6 where he called for people to "go hunting" after politicians of both parties.
"Prepare Our Weapons, and then go hunting. Lets hunt these cowards down like the Traitors that each of them are," Smocks wrote. "This includes, RINOS, Dems, and Tech Execs." Smocks said the hunting was justified, adding "We now have the green light" after Rep. Mo Brooks "asked the Patriots to pledge Our live and wealth to fight for Our country" and President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters to "fight like hell."
Mr. Smocks is no rookie when it comes to crime, which may have well played into the results here. From the early 1980’s onward, he has been involved to various extents in bank fraud, larceny, auto theft, and impersonating a federal agent. Given that amount of extensive history, and his nearly forty years long history of crimes of moral turpitude, I was surprised to see that Mr. Smocks only received 14 months, and with time served, he is scheduled to get out of custody around March of 2022.
While it is fair to say that it is likely other participants will eventually be sentenced to more time, with some facing as much as 6.5 years, this process has not resulted in the punishments myself or many others wish to see.
There has even as you probably know, been deference shown towards a suspect’s all-inclusive vacation. This makes a mockery of what happened and all the more easy for the Republicans to take advantage of Americans short attention span as it relates to the matter, trying to get it swept under the rug.
Well, that is one awfully lumpy rug.
And I need to know why Federal judges, for the most part, have treated this event like a frat boy’s DUI. Or do angry white supremacists enter American court rooms with both the presumption of innocence, and the assumption that they haved lived, aside from this, an otherwise blameless life.
You know, the Paul Manafort principle.
-ROC
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