Insurrectionist John Lolos received two weeks in jail because he’s just too goddamned stupid to shut the hell up...
WUSA9
John Lolos, of Washington, appeared before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta on Friday to be sentenced. Lolos pleaded guilty in August to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. The Department of Justice asked Mehta to give him 30 days behind bars for his role in the Capitol riot.
Lolos used the hearing to rant about disproven election fraud theories and to seemingly downplay what happened at the Capitol on January 6 – at one point telling the judge, in reference to violence against police, that “everyone was respecting each other.” Lolos, who was pulled off a plane at Ronald Reagan National Airport following the riot for repeatedly chanting “Trump 2020,” also told Mehta he believed he was arrested because the undercover officer had “stereotypical” homosexual traits.
After listening to him, Mehta quickly shot down notions that January 6 was just a protest – calling it “simply incorrect” – and also said it was regrettable that Lolos continued to believe the lies about the 2020 election that had led him to his courtroom.
His attorney tried to stop him… repeatedly.
CNN
“People like Mr. Lolos were told lies, were told falsehoods, were told the election was stolen when it was not," Mehta said. "Regrettably, people like Mr. Lolos who were told those lies took it to heart. And they are the ones paying the consequences.”
“Those who created the conditions that lead to Mr. Lolos' conduct have in no meaningful measure been held accountable," he said. "You were a pawn. You were a pawn in the game played by people who know better.”
(snip)
In a rambling speech to the court, Lolos, at times speaking with different accents, rehashed debunked claims of widespread voter fraud, said police encouraged him to go into the Capitol, claimed evidence against him was tainted, and encouraged anyone listening in on the court's public call-in line to look up a video of himself online. Lolos refused to speak to his defense attorney, who repeatedly tried to stop Lolos from talking.
“I may have failed to explain why incarceration is necessary here, but I think Mr. Lolos just summed it up," prosecutors said when Lolos was finished talking.
Mehta said it was 'regrettable" that Lolos still believes that the election was stolen, but said it was understandable because "a lie isn't easy to unhear.”
The judge wasn’t buying his “big lie” bullshit...
Courthouse News
“I will say that I’m disappointed to hear a lot of what you had to say today,” Mehta told John Lolos, after Lolos doubled down on baseless theories of election fraud, insisted that he thought he was allowed to be in the Capitol building and accused the media of framing him and ruining his life.
“It sounds to me like you’re wanting to justify your conduct,” Mehta interrupted Lolos during his story.
(snip)
“You thought that the way to get to the designated protest area was through a broken window?” Mehta asked. Mehta later told Lolos that he didn’t believe much of Lolos’ story, including why he got kicked off of his plane back to Seattle.
The judge did however acknowledge the source...
Politico
A federal judge on Friday squarely placed the blame for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Donald Trump, suggesting that the former president’s role in seeding lies about the 2020 election — and the effect it had on his followers — has been an underappreciated part of the entire episode.
(snip)
Mehta’s commentary is among the most notable yet in Capitol riot cases. Aside from the Lolos case, Mehta is also presiding over the conspiracy case against 20 members of the Oath Keepers, charged with planning to stop Congress’ certification of the 2020 election. That case is widely seen as one of the most pivotal of the entire Jan. 6 investigation.
(snip)
In his remarks on Friday, Mehta said other judges on the federal court in Washington, D.C., hadn’t fully emphasized the fact that many of the participants in the Jan. 6 mob had been fed a relentless diet of lies about the election.
“Once you hear people who should know better tell you that an election was stolen and they say it loudly enough, frequently enough,” he said, “it’s not surprising that people will believe it.”
It was Lolos’ mouth that got him busted in the first place...
CNN
In an affidavit filed in federal court, a special agent with the US Capitol Police says the man, John Lolos, was identified by a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officer (Braddock) after Lolos was kicked off a Delta flight the afternoon of January 8 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The crew had decided to turn the plane around while it was taxiing, according to the agent, because Lolos was causing a disturbance by "continuously yelling 'Trump 2020!'"
(snip)
About 45 minutes later, (Officer) Braddock was scrolling through his Instagram feed when he saw a video showing rioters inside the Capitol building, the affidavit says. The video showed a man exiting a Capitol doorway, and Braddock identified him as the same man he saw get kicked off the flight, the agent said.
"During the video LOLOS can be seen exiting the U.S. Capitol doorway, wearing the same shirt he was wearing the (at) the airport, and was waiving a red 'Trump 2020 Keep American Great' flag hooked together with the United States flag, yelling 'we did it, yeah!'" the agent wrote. During the arrest, the agent found the flags seen in the video among Lolos' possessions, according to the affidavit.
Braddock notified officers from the Capitol Police Dignitary Protection Division -- who were already at the airport on other assignments -- about Lolos. They then approached Lolos, according to the affidavit, and, "informed LOLOS that he was being detained and was not free to leave at that point."
The FBI continues to seek the public’s assistance in identifying individuals who participated in unlawful conduct during the Capitol Insurrection.
If you have information about individuals who participated in unlawful actions at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or leave a tip online. You may also submit relevant photos and videos to the FBI here.
If you just can’t get enough information about the terrorists who tried to usurp our democracy, then these links are for you...
Department of Justice Capitol Breach Cases
FBI US Capitol Violence Most Wanted
Insider Searchable Table
George Washington University Spreadsheet — Updated Daily
NPR — Updated Database
seditiontracker.com
ProPublica Capitol Riot videos lifted from Parler
KUMU — Capitol Riot Insurrectionist Networks
Just Security — January 6th Clearinghouse
The Trace — Capitol Riot Gun Arrests