Judge: Trump and allies 'stoked the flames of fear' that led to Jan. 6 violence
A federal judge said Wednesday that those who organized a pro-Trump Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol “stoked the flames of fear” and deserve to be held accountable for what they unleashed.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson described the actions of Donald Trump and others as a key driver of what would ultimately become the violent assault that left more than 140 police officers injured and four members of the mob dead.
Though she didn’t name Trump, Jackson clearly referred to his remarks when she described the goal of those leading the Jan. 6 rally. She said their efforts “deliberately stoked the flames of fear and discontent and explicitly encouraged [attendees] to go to the Capitol and fight for one reason and one reason only: to make sure the certification of the election didn’t happen.”
Jackson’s comments came as she delivered a sentence to Jan. 6 defendant Russell Peterson, who was charged with illegally entering the Capitol but not with committing any violence or destruction. She’s the latest federal judge to invoke Trump’s conduct as a contributor to the chaos and violence of that day and urge accountability. Judges on the federal bench in Washington, D.C., have expressed a range of views about the culpability of the former president for the riot, but several, like Jackson, have more squarely put the onus on Trump in recent weeks.
Peterson’s attorney Dani Jahn had argued that Trump and other allies, including his family members and attorney Rudy Giuliani, bore responsibility for the actions of the rioters, particularly after ginning them up with incendiary speeches that morning.
Jackson agreed with the overall assessment, but she stopped short of her colleague, Judge Amit Mehta, who recently worried that those who stormed the Capitol for Trump were “pawns” being punished for the actions of powerful ringleaders. Rather, Jackson said that despite the incessant disinformation on social media and from those attempting to overturn the election, rioters made their own decision to march from Trump’s rally to the Capitol and ignore the blaring signals that their presence was illegal.
She ultimately sentenced Peterson to 30 days in jail — twice as much as prosecutors requested — and $500 in restitution.
“No one was swept away to the Capitol. No one was carried,” she said to Peterson. “There may be others who bear greater responsibility and should be held accountable. But this is not their day in court. It’s yours.”
