Insurrection Detection

     Christina Praser-Fair is an example of why even the misdemeanor cases are so important among the up to 2,000 people who could face charges for their actions during the January 6th insurrection. To be clear, she is not one of the nearly 1,450 people who have been charged so far, but she is one of the hundreds of people who have been identified by online sleuths but not yet charged for her actions.      Realistically, with 3,000+ people entering the Capitol and/or committing acts of violence and property damage on Capitol grounds, the Justice Department will not be able to charge everyone at the Capitol that day. Christina here doesn't deserve to get away. Praser-Fair, a divorced mother of three children, has owned the Cornwallis House Tea Company in Winnsboro, South Carolina, since January 2011.      Some small details serve a big role in painting a picture of her life. Among her tea blends served are "Patriot Tea" and "Libertea," which pay homage to the Fo

Image courtesy of Law and Crime Network and U.S. Department of Justice      There have been a lot of strange occurrences in January 6th cases, from the FBI questioning a Biden campaign staffer who happened to share the same name as a January 6th defendant to an ex-boyfriend turning in a woman who stormed the Capitol in a pink beret. However, the arrest of a Pennsylvania man last month has to be among the most bizarre cases I have covered.       Ian MacBride of Pennsylvania is facing a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding and several related misdemeanors for his actions that day. In the leadup to January 6th, MacBride sent graphic messages threatening violence against members of Congress, including promising to "literally drag them out of the Capitol and shove broom sticks up their asses." Someone has some suppressed fetishes. He joined a caravan of buses carrying dozens of Pennsylvanians to the Capitol, bragging about confirming his seat on the far-right sit

     Enrique Tarrio is the person outside of the Trump White House most responsible for the events on the January 6th insurrection. The leader of the far-right Proud Boys, he was responsible for directing the army of over 100 Proud Boys from his hotel room in Baltimore, earning a conviction for seditious conspiracy and a 22-year prison sentence.      Ethan Nordean was the on-the-ground leader for the Proud Boys on January 6th and had a yearslong history of street-level violence in the Pacific Northwest that ended with a seditious conspiracy conviction and 18-year prison sentence.      Stewart Rhodes was the leader of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group that advocated for civil war to achieve an extremist vision of limited government. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy for organizing a group of dozens of his followers to breach the Capitol and stockpile weapons in a nearby hotel, and he, too, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.      Joseph Biggs, the head of the Florida P

     Joseph Lino "Jose" Padilla is a bad guy and was a key instigator of aggressive violence on the Lower West Terrace on January 6th. A user of the "thedonald" forum who repeatedly pressed up against police barricades, he shouted insults, calling one officer a "moral coward," before helping to breach a police line with a massive Trump sign. After making his way to the tunnel, he threw a flagpole that struck an officer in the head. For his spree of violence, one that included claiming that he had a right to try to overthrow the government and saying he was prepared to return with guns, Padilla was convicted of eight felonies and two misdemeanors carrying a maximum of roughly 90 years in prison. In reality, he'll probably wind up with a sentence of somewhere between five and 10 years. Seems like a fair verdict and a fair case overall, right?       Well, Mr. Padilla and his wife seem to disagree with most rational people on that. On "Christian"

Donald Trump , the former president who was willing to organize a criminal enterprise to subvert the will of the people and stay in power: $200,000. John Eastman , the disgraced racist constitutional attorney and professor who pushed the fake electors scheme and made false statements to pressure elected officials: $100,000. Rudy Giuliani , a racist rapist, international thug, and the head of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election who made false statements to pressure elected officials and organized a campaign of harassment against election workers like Ruby Freeman: $150,000. Mark Meadows , a former leading figure in the Tea Party movement and Trump's chief advisor who helped pressure elected officials: $100,000. Jeffrey Clark , an environmental lawyer who was willing to take the role of acting attorney general in order to help throw out the election results in the state of Georgia : $100,000. Kenneth Chesebro , a former liberal attorney considered the architect of the f

     Last week, the DOJ released its sentencing memorandum for the five Proud Boys convicted of a combined 31 felonies at trial back in May, including four convicted of the Civil War-era seditious conspiracy charge. Believe me when I say that memorandum is a whopper. The Justice Department wants 33 years for former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio as well as Florida leader and former InfoWars figure Joseph Biggs, 30 years for Philadelphia Proud Boys leader Zachary Rehl, 27 years in prison for top Tarrio lieutenant Ethan Nordean, and 20 years in prison for New York recruit Dominic Pezzola. That's a combined 143 years in prison.       For reference, the DOJ sought a combined 149 years in prison for the NINE Oath Keepers defendants convicted at trial. They wanted just under 17 years in prison on average for each of the Oath Keepers defendants, but they want just under 29 years on average for the Proud Boys defendants. Why the difference?      For one thing, the groups' plots wer