Judge slams Jan 6 rioter during sentencing: 'It's time to grow up!'

Before 29-year-old Brandon Fellows was sentenced Thursday for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the federal judge overseeing his case slammed him for his “utter lack of remorse."

Fellows was convicted in August of one felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding and four misdemeanors. According to prosecutors, he entered the Capitol through a broken window before smoking marijuana in Sen. Jeff Merkley’s (D-OR) office. He later posted extensively on social media, “glorifying the violence of his fellow rioters," WUSA9 reported.

Fellows had his pretrial release agreement revoked after multiple violations, one of which was when he called the mother of his probation officer. After firing his attorneys, he chose to represent himself. He was also found in criminal contempt of court for repeated outbursts, including calling his trial a “kangaroo court” and a “Nazi court.”

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Prosecutors sought 37 months in prison for Fellows, calling him a "cheerleader" for the riot and pointing out that he threatened to return to the Capitol if his preferred candidate didn't win.

During his sentencing hearing on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said he had never seen a defendant as contemptuous as Fellows in all his years as a judge.

“You have repeatedly made a mockery of these proceedings,” McFadden said, adding that Fellows had shown the “height of contempt” for all three branches of government and had “flagrantly lied” under oath.

“It is, rather, your defiance of any and every attempt to try to get your actions to conform to what the law requires that has gotten you to this point,” McFadden said, later telling Fellows, “It’s time for you to grow up!”

Fellows was sentenced to just over three years in prison but will receive credit for approximately 32 months already served.

Hundreds of people have been convicted for taking part in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. More than 1,200 people were charged with federal crimes.

“The Justice Department will hold all Jan. 6 perpetrators at any level accountable under the law, whether they were present that day or otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in January. Of former President Trump’s federal case, Garland said the department is “abiding by the long-standing norms to ensure independence and integrity or our investigations.”

Trump's Jan. 6 case is currently on hold as the Supreme Court considers his argument that he is immune from prosecution by virtue of presidential privilege. The Court will hear arguments in April.