[EpochTimes] A California woman who broadcast her trip through the U.S. Capitol on Facebook on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced to 45 days in jail and levied a $5,000 fine by U.S. District Senior Judge Reggie B. Walton, who lectured her for blaming Black Lives Matter and Antifa for some of the violence that day when that “obviously was not the case.”Imelda Acosta, who was described in court documents by her social media name—Mariposa Castro—was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol building, a misdemeanor. As part of a plea agreement, several other charges were dismissed.
Clips from her 47 minutes of Facebook broadcasts were played by prosecutor Jordan Konig at the sentencing hearing. Konig argued for a 60-day jail term. The government’s sentencing memo cited statements Acosta made on the live-stream, including “we’re coming” and “this is war.”
During one broadcast, Acosta said, “We’re breaking in! We are breaking in! We’re doing this. We’re breaking in, right? … We’re taking our house back. This is our Capitol. We’re taking it back. No more bull[expletive]!” according to prosecutors. Acosta entered the Capitol through a broken window, court documents said.
Judge Walton said jail time is a necessary punishment, to send a message to others who harbor a similar mindset.
Capitol rioter who stole Nancy Pelosi’s lectern on Jan. 6 gets prison time
[NYPost] The Florida man who pranced around with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s podium during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was sentenced to more than two months in prison Friday.
Adam Johnson — who once boasted that a photo of his shenanigan “broke the Internet” — was sentenced to 75 days behind bars by a federal judge in Washington, DC, for one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground.
Johnson pleaded guilty in November and will also have to complete 200 hours of community service as part of the sentence.
He was part of a pro-Donald Trump mob who roamed the Capitol building that day and encouraged his fellow rioters to break down an entrance onto the House floor by using a bust of George Washington, prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed in his case.
Johnson turned himself in two days after the riot and cooperated with prosecutors after his arrest.
His lawyers wrote in a court filing before sentencing that he was being punished in part because of the viral photo that showed him with Pelosi’s lectern.
“Arguably, if he latched onto some other piece of government furniture for his photo opportunity, jail time would not even be a consideration,” they wrote.
Protester Allegedly Shoved Off Ledge by Officer on Jan. 6 Comes Forward, Plans to Sue
[EpochTimes] The protester who was allegedly shoved by a police officer off a ledge near the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, identified himself for the first time on Feb. 22 and said he plans to sue the police for attempted murder.
Before Feb. 22, Derrick Vargo was the unnamed subject of a video in which a police officer appears to push him off a 20-foot-high ledge, plunging to what many assumed was a tragic death.
Nearly 14 months later, Vargo and his attorney announced a forthcoming civil suit against the U.S. Capitol Police for his serious injuries and mental trauma caused by the push and fall.
Vargo, 32, who works as a yacht builder in Tennessee, said he has no doubt the motorcycle officer who pushed him did it with the intention of hurting or killing him.
“He knows exactly where he was on that Capitol building. You know, he works there,” Vargo told The Epoch Times. “He’s not just a citizen. He works there. He knows how high up he is. He shoved me not with just one arm but two. That means he wanted me off of it. It was very intentional.”
The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) didn’t respond to a request for the identity of the officer and whether the incident has been investigated.
Vargo’s case is the latest allegation of police brutality and misconduct during the protests at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It brings the number of cases to at least seven, with victims, relatives, friends, and witnesses alleging police brutality or misconduct caused serious injuries and deaths.
“There is no justification under the sun for out-and-out police brutality, never mind police brutality that ends up in death or serious injury, as we have seen multiple occasions that day,” Joseph McBride, Vargo’s attorney, said. “Several people died through police negligence and/or police brutality and/or murder.”
McBride was referring to the killing of Ashli Babbitt by USCP Lt. Michael Byrd, the beating of Rosanne Boyland by Metropolitan Police Department officer Lila Morris, and the beating of Victoria White by an as-yet-unidentified DC Metro police commander who struck her more than 40 times with a steel baton and his fist.
Related:
Reggie B. Walton: 2019-10-02 Judge tells DOJ to charge McCabe or drop investigation
Reggie B. Walton: 2019-02-16 Judicial Watch uncovers 'chart' of the Hilldebeest's potential violations
Reggie B. Walton: 2018-07-03 Federal Court Orders DOJ to Begin Searching and Producing Fusion GPS Records in Response to Judicial Watch Lawsuit
Reggie B. Walton: 2019-10-02 Judge tells DOJ to charge McCabe or drop investigation
Reggie B. Walton: 2019-02-16 Judicial Watch uncovers 'chart' of the Hilldebeest's potential violations
Reggie B. Walton: 2018-07-03 Federal Court Orders DOJ to Begin Searching and Producing Fusion GPS Records in Response to Judicial Watch Lawsuit