They are neither patriots or political prisoners, judges say –

Karl Dresch inside U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6: Google

By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal judges of both parties are harshly scolding defendants charged for their actions during the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, saying they are neither patriots or political prisoners, then letting them out of jail on minimum sentences in plea deals with prosecutors.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson: Google

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Karl Dresch, 41, of Calumet, Mich., with six months in jail on Wednesday, which he had already served awaiting trial, in a deal with prosecutors. Dresch pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of parading, picketing or demonstrating in the Capitol after four other charges were dropped, including a felony count of obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, according to on-the-ground reporting by the Washington Post, which people have to pay to read even though the same information is available on many other news websites, including television news sites such as CNN.

Karl Dresch mug shot: FBI

During sentencing, the judge said he was held in jail awaiting trial because of his illegal actions, not his political views, and that others who joined the attack on Congress as it met to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election could face more jail time. Dresch has been in jail since his arrest Jan. 19, so the sentence is effectively for time-served. He will now be released.

“He was not a political prisoner. We are not here today because he supported former president Trump,” Jackson said. “He was arrested because he was an enthusiastic participant in an effort to subvert and undo the electoral process.”

Jackson, an appointee of President Barack Obama, has become known for her sharp criticism of the Trump administration’s anti-democratic maneuvering, and called Dresch an “enthusiastic participant” in the effort “to subvert democracy, to stop the will of the people and replace it with the will of the mob.”

Jackson told Dresch he has the right to vote for whomever he wants, “but so does everyone else. Your vote doesn’t count any more than anyone else’s. You don’t get to cancel them out and call for a war because you don’t like the results of the election.”

“You called yourself and the others patriots, but that’s not patriotism. Patriotism is loyalty to country, loyalty to the Constitution, not loyalty to a single head of state. That’s the tyranny we rejected on July 4th of 1776.”

Dresch declined to address the court, and his defense’s sentencing request was not immediately unsealed.

Dresch’s sentencing came only days after four right-wing Republican members of Congress — Reps. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Louis Gohmert (R-Tex.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — showed up at the D.C. jail demanding to inspect the treatment of those detained in connection with Jan. 6, whom some Trump supporters have cast as political prisoners and martyrs.

Yet federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties have condemned those claims. Some have gone further to challenge U.S. prosecutors’ acceptance of misdemeanor plea deals for individuals involved in “terrorizing members of Congress,” forcing the evacuation of lawmakers and violence that authorities have led to several deaths and assaults on nearly 140 police officers.

Domestic terrorism data shows right-wing violence is on the rise in America.

“Does the government, in agreeing to the petty offense in this case, have any concern about deterrence?” Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell asked in accepting such a plea last Thursday. She was also appointed to the court by Obama.

Some defendants are saying they were lied to by Trump or led astray by right-wing commentators or social media.

So far, about 30 of more than 550 defendants charged have pleaded guilty, and six have been sentenced. Five of those sentenced had their cases pled down to a single misdemeanor involving no violent conduct. Three received probation, including Joshua Bustle, 35, and Jessica Bustle, 36, of Virginia, who were ordered Wednesday to 30 and 60 days of conditional home confinement.

Dresch and Michael Curzio, 35, of central Florida were only sentenced to the statutory minimum of six months in prison or time served. Neither was accused of violence on Jan. 6, but each had a criminal record that U.S. magistrate judges said posed a flight risk, obstruction or a level of danger warranting pretrial detention.

Curzio was the only misdemeanor defendant held, but had a prior conviction for attempted murder. Dresch had a 2013 felony conviction for eluding police in a 145-mph vehicle chase that spanned two states. And despite a ban on felon possession of weapons, law enforcement searches of his Upper Peninsula home on Jan. 19 turned up a Russian SKS rifle, two shotguns, a Glock pistol and more than 100 rounds of ammunition.

Dresch was also charged with “corruptly . . . obstruct[ing]” Congress, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors said in Facebook posts Dresch likened events on Jan. 6 beforehand to this country’s declaration of independence from British rule in 1776.

Afterward, he posted, “We the people took back our house . . . now those traitors Know who’s really in charge.”

In sentencing documents, prosecutors said in a footnote without further explanation that they dropped the felony charge “in an effort to achieve consistency” with other riot cases. Prosecutors maintained that “he knew why he was there — to interfere with the democratic process — and what he sought to achieve — the disruption of the counting of electoral votes,” but noted he was not accused of violence or destruction.

Jackson called the misdemeanor plea and sentence just and sufficient, adding that pandemic-related lockdown restrictions made his jail time harsher than it would have been otherwise.

U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan, an appointee of Ronald Reagan, said the the Bustles were not “patriots” when he sentenced them.

Hogan said he seriously considered jailing Jessica Bustle because her social media posts calling Jan. 6 participants “patriots” were “so inaccurate, so misguided.”

“Patriots are not the ones who attack the operations of Congress” or attempt to stop elected lawmakers in both parties from performing their constitutional duties, Hogan said. “That is revolution, not patriotism.”

Hogan noted authorities attributed several deaths to the riot, including responding police officers who have died by suicide.

“If you listened to the testimony on the Hill the other day, you understand the tragedy that has occurred in their lives,” Hogan said, adding that holding those responsible may require jail time for most charged defendants.

But Hogan noted neither Joshua Bustle, a real estate agent, nor Jessica Bustle, a vaccine critic and stay-at-home mother, acted violently and spent only a few minutes in the Capitol. He also acknowledged defense arguments that the couple has been punished in the court of public opinion, in Joshua Bustle’s business affairs and in their family life. The couple is relocating to South Carolina for a fresh start, their lawyers said. Both Bustles apologized, and a lawyer asserted they had purged social media from their lives.

“I’m sorry for my actions. I love our country,” Jessica Bustle said. “I [don’t] condone and do not agree with anybody who is ever violent toward anybody in life.”

The Jan. 6 riot caused $1.5 million in damage to Capitol — and U.S. prosecutors want defendants to pay.