President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday fired another volley in its endless war against supporters of former President Donald Trump. This time, it challenged the sentences of five members of the Proud Boys convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6 protests.
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was handed a stunning 22-year prison sentence. Four others were sentenced to prison terms of 18, 17, 15 and 10 years. Apparently this was not enough for the administration.
Prosecutors incredibly asked for 33 years for Tarrio, and now they are back looking for more. According to The Hill, the appeal notice did not list reasons for seeking stiffer sentences.
Biden’s DOJ also went back to court seeking harsher sentences for members of Oath Keepers. Both groups participated in the Jan. 6 demonstrations.
A department spokesperson released a statement on Tuesday asserting the DOJ made the procedural filings as a way of “preserving our right to appeal.”
DOJ files notice of appeal on Proud Boys sentences, will seek tougher punishments | Just The News https://t.co/8lkhQQukj5
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) October 16, 2023
In a statement to Axios, Tarrio attorney Nayib Hassan described the government’s appeal as “ludicrous.” He said the Proud Boys leader’s defense team will review “whatever the government intends to file as a basis for their appeal.”
Hassan added that the attorneys are “tediously working on the grounds for Tarrio’s appeal and believe we will prevail on multiple grounds.”
The lawyer for defendant Ethan Nordean, Nicholas Smith, told the Associated Press that his client is “encouraged by the government’s agreement that errors led to the judgment and sentence in his case.”
Attorney Norm Pattis represents Proud Boys defendants Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl. He termed the DOJ’s appeal to get stiffer sentences “ridiculous.”
Pattis added that Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland “needs a new hobby horse.”
The Justice Department clearly intends to persecute anyone who came within shouting distance of the Capitol that January day. People who committed no violent acts and merely walked into the building’s open doors received sentences far longer than justice would dictate.
Instead of justice, the DOJ is making scores of Trump supporters into political prisoners. The White House effectively weaponized the federal government against its opponents, and now it seeks even stiffer punishments for nonviolent demonstrators.
