Florida ‘QAnon’ power couple going to prison for Jan. 6 Capitol assault
OCALA, Fla. (WFLA) — A married couple from Ocala who were seen pushing their way into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 are the latest Florida protestors going to prison.
Jamie Buteau, 50, and Jennifer Buteau, 46, are one of five Florida husband and wife defendant duos arrested on charges related to the 2021 melee, which was connected to five deaths, hundreds of injuries and more than $2.8 million in property damage.
Crack, contraband smuggled in broad daylight from street into Sarasota County Jail
Investigators said about five minutes after entering the Capitol, the Buteaus “were at the front of the mob” that prevented officers from closing large doors that would have cut protestors off from other restricted areas of the building.
Mr. Buteau was photographed picking up a chair and moments later, he was seen on video throwing it at a police officer who was hit in the arm after the chair ricocheted off a wall.
His wife spit on police after the couple was sprayed with chemical irritants, investigators said.
Investigators said the Buteaus appearance in a 2018 documentary about QAnon helped tie them to the Jan. 6 violence. QAnon is a political movement associated with a belief in the existence of satanic cannibals that control a sex trafficking ring involving children.
The Buteaus are now two of 559 defendants who have pleaded guilty, according to data collected by the George Washington University Program on Extremism.
Mr. Buteau was sentenced to 22 months in prison for assaulting an officer. His wife got 90 days on a misdemeanor count for demonstrating in the Capitol building.
Jon Lewis of the Program on Extremism said the divide that spurred the attempt to stop the election process nearly three years ago is no better now.
“The narratives, the conspiracies, the grievances that drew this violent crowd, including the ones from Florida to the U.S. Capitol have not gone away,” Lewis said. “The threat has in the views of many extremism experts gotten worse. “
The Buteaus are two of the 105 Florida residents charged so far in connection with Jan. 6. Thirty-six are from the Tampa Bay area. Thirty-seven Floridians have pleaded guilty and 13 have been convicted at trial.
Broadway actor Jamie Beeks of Orlando is one of the few defendants in the country acquitted of charges.
The judge in his July bench trial decided there was not enough evidence to convict the former member of the Oath Keepers who was arrested while performing in the play Jesus Christ Superstar.
Other Tampa Bay-area defendants include the subject of one of the most memorable viral pictures of the day, in which Parrish resident Adam Johnson is seen smiling and waving while hoisting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern.
The grin was gone from Johnson’s face when he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two and half months in prison.
Englewood businessman Graydon Young was one of the first Floridians arrested. The veteran who said he joined the Oath Keepers in December 2020 was also the first to plead guilty and agree to cooperate with the government.
During his first hearing in a Tampa federal courtroom, Young slumped his head onto a table with a slight thud as the judge discussed the case.
He would later testify against other Oath Keepers, telling the jury he “was acting like a traitor against my own government” during the assault.
Paul Hodgkins, described as a quiet man from Tampa, was incriminated the way many others were. By a House floor selfie of him standing near the House Speaker’s rostrum.
Hodgkins was sentenced to eight months in prison.
Hodgkin’s explanation was similar to many others, according to his attorney Patrick Leduc who said he went to protest the election but got carried away.
“This guy is poor as dirt, working-class, humble,” Leduc said at the time. “His worst nightmare is this.”
Robert Palmer of Largo was caught on video throwing a fire extinguisher, a plank and a spear-like pole at police. He teared up outside court last fall after pleading guilty.
Palmer was sentenced to more than five years in prison in what was at one point the longest sentence tied to the riot.
Palmer’s stint was eclipsed in September when Henry Tarrio, a Proud Boy leader from Miami, was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Former Congressional Candidate Jeremy Brown, a retired Green Beret once featured on a Special Forces recruitment poster, talked with 8 On your side from the Pinellas County Jail, insisting the video evidence will clear him.
“We weren’t even anywhere close to the Capitol when we found out the Capitol got breached,” Brown said, referring to a group he was with that day. “There are political factors at play here and those that refuse to recognize them are never going to grasp the entire big picture and that’s why I’m taking my case to trial.”
The feds are still looking for Jonathan Pollock, 24, of Lakeland. He allegedly assaulted officers during the riot. The FBI is offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Analysis of the data by 8 On Your Side revealed several details about Florida’s defendants.
The accused range in age from 20 to 72, and are on average about 43 years old. In addition to Florida’s five husband and wife defendants, there are two father and son duos and one pair of siblings, Pollock and his sister.
The professions of the Florida defendants include a doctor, a nurse, a rabbi, a pastor, law enforcement officers and an adult film star. The group also includes 10 Proud Boys and eight Oath Keepers.
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