- RAWSTORY.COM - Raw Story - 12/07/2024 19:03

'It was horrifying': Trump's election interference judge speaks out against Jan. 6 riots

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan warned urgently against the public losing sight of the horrors of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol during a routine sentencing this week.According to Politico, Chutkan condemned the attack as a “violent attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power” where rioters were “desecrating the center of our government.” She added that she continues to hear from a number of police who defended the Capitol that day, “who are still getting vile threats and being called names for doing their jobs.”The sentencing was for Spencer Offman, a man from the Detroit suburbs who was charged this January with entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.Prosecutors said that when FBI officials interviewed him in 2021, he lied about his involvement in the attack, saying that he left as soon as rioters began moving barricades — only for tipsters to later provide photos of him moving barricades himself. Surveillance footage also showed him entering the Capitol building through a broken window.Chutkan is also presiding over former President Donald Trump's federal election conspiracy case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans subpoena ex-Capitol Police intel head for Jan. 6 inquiryThat case was delayed by a Supreme Court case that ultimately concluded with the justices ruling presidents have a presumption of immunity for official acts; Chutkan's next task, which pushes the trial itself past November, is to determine what charges and evidence against Trump would be covered by immunity — something that itself may lead to a sort of "mini-trial."Over 1,300 people have been arrested in connection with the January 6 insurrection to date, most for misdemeanor offenses similar to Offman, but a handful for more serious crimes like assaulting police officers or seditious conspiracy.