A federal judge took aim at the Republican National Committee during a blistering statement from the bench during a Capitol rioter's sentencing hearing on Thursday.
Last week, the RNC approved a resolution censuring Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) that referred to the Jan. 6 insurrection as "legitimate political discourse."
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson invoked that phrase when she sentenced Mark Leffingwell, a disabled Iraq war vet, to six months in jail. Leffingwell pleaded guilty to assaulting police after admitting to punching two officers during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
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"So, it needs to be crystal clear that it is not patriotism," Jackson told Leffingwell, according to a transcript posted by ABC News' Alex Mallin. "It is not standing up for America. It is not 'legitimate political discourse,' and it is not justified to descend on the nation's Capitol at the direction of a disappointed candidate and disrupt the electoral process."
Jackson, an Obama appointee, also noted that "the heated rhetoric" that "riled up" Leffingwell "has not subsided."
"Disinformation is not only available, it's getting louder and louder every day," the judge said. " You weren't the only person to fall for it or embrace it, and some have embraced it who don't even believe it. The lie that the election was stolen and illegitimate is still being perpetrated. Indeed, it is being amplified, not only on social media, but on mainstream news outlets, and worse, it's become heresy for a member of the former president's party to say otherwise."
"Cancelling out the votes of other people with a show of force is the opposite of what America stands for," Jackson added. "It was the definition of tyranny, of an authoritarianism. Attacking law enforcement officers trying to preserve order and our seat of government, trying to protect the public servants in the building, isn't patriotism either. It's not what the military trained you to do and it's contrary to the whole notion of supposedly caring about 'blue lives.' You don't care about them when they're standing in your way instead of in somebody's else's."
Despite her scathing statement, Jackson's sentence was considerably less than the 27 months that federal prosecutors had requested for Leffingwell.
According to the Seattle Times, Jackson took into account Leffingwell’s military service, family situation and lack of any prior criminal record. She reportedly called it “one of the most difficult” decisions she's made regarding a sentence.
“You punched the first officer and then you punched another officer who was trying to restrain you,” Jackson said. “More than one punch, more than one officer. It was wrong, it was unconscionable, and I think you know that.”
Leffingwell told Jackson he was “embarrassed and ashamed of myself for what happened.”
“It was not something that I planned to do,” he added. “And looking back on it, it’s just a nightmare. …I wish I could go back and make it not happen.”
Leffingwell was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and serve 24 months of supervised probation, in addition to community service.
