Riley WilliamsAmong the highest-profile defendants Attack on the US Capitol on January 6A federal judge in Washington imposed a three-year prison sentence.
The Justice Department argued that Williams, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the “instigator” of the mob and that the violence during the attack was “happily directed and orchestrated.”
Williams, who was accused of directing the crowd and making violent statements about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was convicted by a jury on six federal charges in November. During a lengthy sentencing hearing Thursday, prosecutors accused Williams of obstructing the investigation into his case and denying responsibility for his actions.
A federal prosecutor argued that Williams “expressed regret that the blockade had not gone further. There was nothing patriotic about what he did on January 6.”
“Riley Williams used commercial grade software to wipe his computer six times” and removed computer hardware to hide evidence, prosecutors said.
Dauphin County Jail via AP
“He was obsessed with the idea that the election was stolen,” he said.
The Justice Department argued that Williams, who was 23 years old when he was convicted at trial in November, was not a naive and vulnerable person. Prosecutors said Williams did not float into the crowd and had no form of “Forrest Gump” on Jan. 6.
“He may be incapable of remorse. He is openly proud of his actions,” the prosecutor argued.
In their earlier arguments, the Justice Department alleged that Williams walked into Pelosi’s office; ordered other rioters; Pushed against the officers and took video, audio and photo recordings of his activities. Prosecutors said Williams also threw a water bottle at police officers and called them traitors.
While inside the speaker’s office, according to the government, Williams encouraged other rioters to steal the office’s laptop and filmed the theft, telling one of them, “Dude, put on gloves!” and yelled, among other things, “Take that f—– laptop.”
The jury deadlocked on two charges against Williams, including a theft charge.
In asking for leniency for Williams, his defense attorney argued that Williams was influenced by “impressionable men,” including former President Donald Trump. Williams’ defense attorney played a video clip of Trump from 2023 to deny the impact of the January 6 riots. In the video clip, Trump is heard calling the January 6 prosecution “a colossal lie and an act of extreme leftism.”
His defense attorney said Williams was “listening to powerful and influential people.”
In a statement to the judge, Williams apologized to police and Capitol staff. She said, “I hardly recognize the young and foolish girl who shouted at the police that day. I am now a responsible woman.”
Just before handing down the 36-month sentence, Judge Amy Berman called Jackson Williams’ crimes “absolutely reprehensible” and “serious.”
Jackson said Williams directed others in the crowd.
“There’s only one voice to give direction like a coxswain in a crew,” Jackson said, adding that Williams “wasn’t a little waif drifting in the wind.”
Williams has already served four months in prison. He was ordered to prison shortly after his conviction at trial in November.
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