A Jan. 6 rioter who has praised Adolf Hitler and expressed support for Nazi ideology was sentenced to three years in prison this Thursday for possessing unregistered firearm silencers, The Washington Post reported.
U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff said that Hatchet M. Speed, 41, betrayed “everything he pledged to protect” and posed a danger to society due to his extremist views.
“It is difficult to understand how anyone could conclude that the Unabomber and Eric Rudolph and Hitler could be a positive influence on anyone, much less role models worthy of admiration and emulation,” said Nachmanoff, referring to the high-profile historical figures Speed was obsessed with.
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“You served your country honorably until you went down the path that led you here,” the judge told Speed, who is a former Navy reservist who held a top-secret security clearance. “So why? Why?”
Speed initially faced charges of illegal entry, disorderly conduct and parading in the U.S. Capitol.
In March of 2022, Speed met with an FBI undercover agent who was presented to him as “a like-minded individual." In his conversations with the undercover agent, Speed described his participation in the riot.
“SPEED explained that he had hoped that more and more people would have shown up,” the report stated. “It should have gotten to the point where Nancy Pelosi should have resigned out of fear for her life. That’s what should have happened.” Speed also observed that “there are too many Americans that have this idea that we have to be peaceful all costs,” the FBI stated.
At his sentencing hearing Thursday, a prosecutor cited Speed’s involvement with the Proud Boys and his statements to the undercover agent.
“He talked about studying Eric Rudolph’s and the Unabomber’s manifestos to come up with a better game plan than they had,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas W. Traxler said. “He talked about wiping out the Jewish population.”
Read the full report at The Washington Post.
