Justice Department seeks jail time for Infowars host — despite low-level convictions

Federal prosecutors are seeking jail time for a far-right media figure who earlier this year pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally entering a restricted area during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Infowars host Owen Shroyer didn’t enter the Capitol grounds amid the insurrection but led rioters in chants from an area near the top of the building’s steps. He pleaded guilty in June to illegally entering a restricted area.

Prosecutors are seeking 120 days in jail for Shroyer ahead of his sentencing scheduled for Sept. 12, according to court filings posted by Politico’s Kyle Cheney.

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“In the months prior to January 6, Shroyer spread election disinformation paired with violent rhetoric to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of viewers. He presciently warned in November 2020 that, if Joe Biden became president, ‘it’s not going to be a million peaceful marchers in D.C.’ And on Jan. 6, 2021, Shroyer took to a megaphone before leading a crowd to the Capitol: ‘The Democrats are posing as communists, but we know who they really are: they’re just tyrants. And so today, on January 6, we declare death to tyranny! Death to tyrants!’” prosecutors said in court filings.

“Shroyer did not stop at the sight of tear gas or sounds of explosions on the west side of the Capitol. He continued marching around to the top of the east steps chanting ‘1776!’ where rioters would eventually breach the Capitol and its police line and halt the transfer of presidential power. Shroyer did not step foot inside the Capitol, he did not need to; many of those who listened to him did instead. In the aftermath, he has blamed ‘Antifa’ and told his followers: 'We should be proud of what happened.'"

The government went on to say that Shroyer "helped create January 6. The government respectfully requests that this Court sentence him to 120 days of incarceration, 12 months of supervised release, 60 hours of community service and $500 in restitution."