A federal judge in Washington, D.C., issued a warning about the risk of future political violence and the dangers of ongoing misinformation and denialism regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
At a sentencing hearing for 21-year-old Aiden Bilyard, a North Carolina man who admitted deploying bear spray against police during the Jan. 6 insurrection — and smashing open a Capitol window with a metal bat — Judge Reggie Walton said that the U.S. is in a"scary moment" in which democracy remains endangered.
Bilyard's defense attorneys unsuccessfully sought a sentence of home confinement during Friday's hearing, arguing he was remorseful for his actions. Defense lawyers also said Bilyard has been exposed to unwelcomed propaganda and influence by other Jan. 6 defendants — including Oath Keepers founder— while in pretrial detention in Virginia.
Though Walton didn't name anyone specific, Jan. 6 defendants and their sympathizers have held nightly protests outside the Washington, D.C., jail, in which defendants are frequently referred to as political prisoners. At a protest on Thursday, a Jan. 6 defendant called the Capitol attack an entrapment operation by the FBI and Antifa.
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