United States: eight months in prison for participating in the assault on the Capitol
Pro-Trump protesters break into the US Capitol during clashes with police, at a rally to challenge the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by the US Congress, in Washington, United States, January 6, 2021. REUTERS - SHANNON STAPLETON
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In the United States, this is the first conviction to prison, more than six months after the assault on the Capitol: Paul Hodgkins was sentenced to eight months in detention.
He had pleaded guilty at the beginning of June of obstructing an official procedure, for having gone inside Congress in order to obstruct the certification of the results of the presidential election.
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With our correspondent in Washington,
Anne Corpet
In the photo he himself distributed to his friends, Paul Hodgkins poses with a Trump flag and t-shirt in the Senate Chamber.
He wears a pair of protective glasses around his neck, proof that he had anticipated tear gas fire from the police.
The 38-year-old man had come from Florida to answer the ex-president's call.
He did not participate in the damage to the building and did not commit any violence, but the fact of having invaded the Capitol in an attempt to obstruct legal proceedings is enough to send him into detention.
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To read also:
[Original podcast] Attack on the Capitol
"
You took part in an event which threatened not only the Capitol, but also democracy
", launched the judge before announcing the sentence.
Paul Hodginks, who pleaded guilty, said he regretted his action and said he recognized Joe Biden's full and complete victory in the presidential election.
His sentence to prison is the first in a long series: more than 500 rioters are prosecuted for their participation in the assault on the Capitol.
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United States
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