Maroc - RAWSTORY.COM - Raw Story - 19/Jun 00:21

Jan. 6 rioter who walked out of debate loses GA House primary runoff

A Georgia Republican who served prison time for a conviction related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was defeated in a primary runoff for a House seat. Charles Hand failed to best former Trump administration official Wayne Johnson as they dueled to challenge Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) in the general election come Nov. 5, The Associated Press projected.The result at the ballot box comes after Hand stormed out of a primary debate this month after he accused his Republican opponent of "orchestrating attacks on my wife."But Johnson proved he wasn't the one who lobbed attacks on Hand's wife, Mandy Robinson-Hand, who was a co-defendant in his Jan. 6 case.Rather, it was Michael Nixon, another former Republican rival who exited the race last month and endorsed Johnson who aired Hand's wife's criminal past.Robinson-Hand also "spent a year in jail and nine years in probation after she was convicted of a felony oxycodone charge" back in 2008.Hand served 20 days and six months of probation after being found guilty of illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol on the deadly January 6th riot. ALSO READ: ‘They could have killed me’: Spycraft, ballots and a Trumped-up plot gone haywireHe admitted to having "broke off a piece of metal fencing and placed it in his back pants pocket" as rioters clashed with Capitol police. Prior to being punished, Hand didn't show contrition about his role in the riot, telling his wife, 'Like I said it was a perfect time to be a. Part of history!'.Johnson appeared to write Hand off after bailing out of their debate.“I would like to assume that Chuck Hand’s departure, the way in which he did it today, was his withdrawal from the race,” Johnson told reporters after the debate, per AP. “But it certainly should cause people to pause and think about why he did it and what he was trying to get by doing it.”