DOJ identifies Pete Schwartz as the worst Jan. 6 attacker prosecuted to date — and asks for 24 years

CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane reported Monday evening that the Justice Department is asking for the worst sentence yet of a Jan. 6 defendant.

Citing the sentencing memo, MacFarlane said that Pete Schwartz "stole chemical munitions, including pepper spray... left behind by the fleeing officers and used that pepper spray as a weapon to attack those same officers as they desperately tried to escape."

He then assaulted a group of police officers in Washington. "Schwartz did not back down. Instead he joined the larger mob inside of the tunnel in attempting to push through the police line and into the Capitol Building..."

"By Schwartz’s own admission, he viewed himself as being at 'war' that day, stating in a Facebook post on Jan. 7, 2021, 'What happened yesterday was the opening of a war. I was there and whether people will acknowledge it or not we are now at war,'" the sentencing memo continued.

Schwartz threw himself on the mercy of the court, begging for leniency, asking for just 54 months in prison (4.5 years).

"There remain many grifters out there who remain free to continue propagating the 'great lie' that Trump won the election, Donald Trump being among the most prominent," the lawyers wrote for their client. "His actions were motivated by a misunderstanding as to the facts surrounding the 2020 election. Indeed, Mr. Schwartz knew next to nothing about the 2020 election and listened to sources of information that were clearly false."

But just a few weeks ago, Schwartz told MacFarlane that he was being jailed "just so they can steal an election."

"I've [been] trapped by my own government. They are terrorists," Schwartz told MacFarlane. He went on to mention the 41,000 hours of video that Fox host Tucker Carlson claimed to make public. Carlson never made the full collection of videos public only a few selected excerpts. He and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) continue to hide the rest of the video on Capitol security videos from the American people.

The DOJ is asking that Schwartz get 24 years prison and pay $71,000+ fine. Thus far, Schwartz's "Patriot Pete Political Prisoner in DC" fund has collected $71,541.

Read the full report by MacFarlane here.