In the Spotlight
By Cassandra Fairbanks
Prosecutors are seeking a three-month sentence for the January 6 protester who went viral over a photo of him happily walking with Nancy Pelosi’s lectern.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves filed a sentencing memo on Friday asking for the 90 days imprisonment of Adam Johnson of Florida, as well as one year of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, $500 in restitution, and 60 hours of community service.
“The defendant, Adam Johnson, traveled to Washington, D.C. from Florida and participated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol—a violent attack that forced an interruption of the certification of the 2020 Electoral College vote count, threatened the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election, injured more than one hundred law enforcement officers, and resulted in more than $1 million in property damage,” the memo stated.
Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds, a Class A misdemeanor on November 22, 2021.
“He was at first also charged with one count of theft of government property and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, but those counts were dismissed when he pleaded guilty to the first charge,” The Hill reports.
In the memo, the prosecutor acknowledged that Johnson only took the lectern temporarily for the photo and did not engage in any violence.
However, they want to send a message to deter future “political violence.”
“In light of Johnson’s participation in a riot that succeeded in halting the certification of the 2020 election, his encouragement of violent conduct, his attempt to enter the Speaker’s office, and the need to deter future political violence, a jail sentence is both necessary and appropriate in this case,” the memo says.
Johnson is reportedly a stay-at-home father to five boys, aged 6 to 14, and his wife is a doctor.
