Jan. 6 media streamer 'Baked Alaska' found guilty of damaging Hanukkah display

The Maricopa County Justice Courts found far-right streamer Tim "Baked Alaska" Gionet guilty of criminal damage after he defaced a Hanukkah display in December 2020 outside the Arizona Capitol.

Gionet, a former Queen Creek resident, was found guilty of criminal damage and attempt to commit criminal damage after he pulled a poster that was part of a Hanukkah display. During the trial, the prosecutors said he also tried pushing the menorah— a candelabrum used in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Gionet was livestreaming when he pulled the poster.

A video shows Gionet standing in front of the menorah, which had a sign that says “Chabad of Arizona wishes you a happy Chanukah” and had a link to the Chabad Lubavitch of Arizona.

Court documents allege that Gionet said “how do we knock this thing down?”

while shaking the menorah.

Gionet then pulled the sign off the menorah and left it in the ground, the video shows.

"No more Happy Hanukkah, only Merry Christmas. This is a disgrace," Gionet can be heard saying in the video.

A Department of Public Safety trooper who testified at trial said he got reports of the damage and went to site. He said he saw one of the posters in the display was “torn off’ the menorah, so he picked up the sign, placed it back and took a report.

In the report, the trooper didn’t note the sign was damaged.

At trial, attorney Zachary Thornley, the lawyer who represents Gionet, said he wasn’t disputing if his client pulled the sign. However, he claimed there was no proof that Gionet damaged it.

Thornley added that if Gionet would have had the intention to damage the menorah, he could have knocked it down.

Rabbi Levi Levertov testified that Chabad Arizona obtained a permit to put the display in the Capitol grounds and didn’t give Gionet permission to remove the sign.

Levertov said every year for Hanukkah there is a procession that ends at the State Capitol and a menorah lightning ceremony for the public. He added that there is an intangible part to the menorah’s value.

“For Jews throughout the world, and obviously in Phoenix specifically, the menorah is a very big point of religious pride and freedom… so these celebrations are quite important,” Levertov said.

Gionet was found guilty on Friday and sentenced to pay a $300 in fines, without probation or jail time. Scott Davis, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Justice Courts, said Gionet had paid the fines as of Monday.

Thornley didn't reply to a request for comment in time for publication.

Federal judge will allow far-right streamer Tim 'Baked Alaska' Gionet to continue livestreaming videos but calls conduct 'dangerous'

Gionet faces charges in unrelated cases

Gionet first gained public attention when he livestreamed from inside the U.S. Capitol as thousands of people stormed the building and drove lawmakers into hiding on Jan. 6, 2021.

That led to a federal complaint against Gionet, which alleges he livestreamed video for 27 minutes on the DLive platform from inside the U.S. Capitol and encouraged rioters around him not to leave.

The video shows him entering a congressional office, sitting on a couch and placing his feet on a table. The video was later posted on YouTube and Twitter, where the FBI saw it.

At one point in the video, the complaint says he curses repeatedly at law enforcement, calling one officer an "oath breaker."

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Thornley has argued in court documents that his client was acting as a member of the press when he entered the Capitol. Thornley has said Gionet did not engage in violence and told others not to break or vandalize anything, but rather left the building when he was told to go.

In U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., Gionet pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the U.S. Capitol. He faces up to six months in prison and will be sentenced Jan. 12. His plea agreement stipulated that he must cooperate with the government's investigation into the Capitol riot.

In another, unrelated, case, Gionet was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay a fine after being convicted on charges related to assaulting a Scottsdale bartender in December 2020.

Gionet was found guilty of assault, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in that case.

Scottsdale police say he made customers uncomfortable when he and friends were inside the bar livestreaming video. Police say he refused to leave when asked to do so and got into an argument with an employee who pushed him out of the door, prompting Gionet to shoot pepper spray twice.

Gionet told police he believed the employee was advancing toward him. He said he feared for his life and sprayed him after being shoved.

After Gionet was sentenced in January, he filed a notice of appeal and filed the appeal on Aug. 24.

Records show the appellate court affirmed the judgement and sentence of the Scottsdale Municipal Court on Thursday.

Republic reporter Anne Ryman contributed to this report. 

Reach breaking news reporter Angela Cordoba Perez at Angela.CordobaPerez@Gannett.com or on Twitter @AngelaCordobaP.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tim 'Baked Alaska' Gionet found guilty of damaging Hanukkah display