Records rebut claims of unequal treatment of Jan. 6 rioters
Source: Associated Press
Records rebut claims of unequal treatment of Jan. 6 rioters
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and JACQUES BILLEAUD
August 30, 2021
It’s a common refrain from some of those charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and their Republican allies: The Justice Department is treating them harshly because of their political views while those arrested during last year’s protests over racial injustice were given leniency.
Court records tell a different story.
An Associated Press review of court documents in more than 300 federal cases stemming from the protests sparked by George Floyd’s death last year shows that dozens of people charged have been convicted of serious crimes and sent to prison.
The AP found that more than 120 defendants across the United States have pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial of federal crimes including rioting, arson and conspiracy. More than 70 defendants who’ve been sentenced so far have gotten an average of about 27 months behind bars. At least 10 received prison terms of five years or more.
The dissonance between the rhetoric of Capitol rioters and their supporters and the record established by courts highlights both the racial tension inherent in their arguments — the pro-Donald Trump rioters were largely white and last summer’s protesters were more diverse — and the flawed assessment at the heart of their claims.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-death-of-george-floyd-george-floyd-coronavirus-pandemic-race-and-ethnicity-55adf4d46aff57b91af2fdd3345dace8
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