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WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Military soldier who was court-martialed for fatally taking pictures a handcuffed civilian in Iraq 20 years in the past was sentenced Monday to greater than 4 years in jail for his role within the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Edward Richmond Jr. attacked law enforcement officials with a steel baton through the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol. Richmond, 41, of Geismar, La., stated he instantly regretted his actions that day.
“It was unsuitable. It was silly. It was not thought-out. It was spur of the second,” Richmond stated earlier than U.S. District Choose John Bates sentenced him to 4 years and three months behind bars.
The choose stated Richmond seemed to be genuinely remorseful for becoming a member of some of the violent episodes of the Capitol riot — a conflict between rioters and outnumbered officers inside a tunnel entrance.
“Your conduct was fairly horrible. You’ve acknowledged that,” Bates stated.
Greater than 1,500 individuals have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the Capitol riot. Greater than 650 of them have been sentenced to phrases of imprisonment starting from a couple of days to 22 years.
A number of Jan. 6 riot defendants have requested judges to pause their circumstances till after President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace, citing his marketing campaign vow to pardon supporters who stormed the Capitol after his “Cease the Steal” rally close to the White Home on Jan. 6. Judges have largely rejected these requests and solid forward with plea hearings and sentencings as scheduled.
Richmond didn’t ask for his sentencing to be delayed. His lawyer, John McLindon, stated after the listening to that such a request appeared like a “waste of time.”
Prosecutors really useful a jail sentence of 5 years and three months for Richmond, who will get credit score for roughly 9 months that he already has served in jail since his arrest.
Richmond was sporting a helmet, goggles and different military-style tactical gear when he attended then-President Trump’s “Cease the Steal” rally close to the White Home on Jan. 6. After marching to the Capitol, he joined different rioters in a “heave ho” push towards law enforcement officials guarding a tunnel entrance.
Richmond carried a police protect into the group after which returned to the mouth of the tunnel, the place he attacked officers with a retractable steel baton, hitting their shields.
Earlier than leaving, Richmond handed alongside a picket board for rioters to make use of towards police as a makeshift weapon. He additionally carried out workplace furnishings from a damaged window.
“He pumped it up within the air a number of occasions over his head and shouted, drawing enormous cheers from the group and spurring the rioters on of their violent assault towards police,” a prosecutor wrote.
Richmond was arrested in January and pleaded responsible to an assault cost in August.
Richmond was 20 when an Military court-martial panel convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced him to a few years of army confinement for killing a handcuffed Iraqi civilian close to Taal Al Jai in February 2004. Richmond was incarcerated at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and likewise obtained a dishonorable discharge from the Military.
The Military stated Richmond used a rifle to fatally shoot Muhamad Husain Kadir, a cow herder, behind the top from about six ft away after the person stumbled. Throughout Monday’s sentencing, Richmond informed the choose {that a} superior officer had informed him to shoot the person if he moved once more.
“It was a mistake,” Richmond stated. “It was a mistake by a younger soldier.”
Kunzelman writes for the Related Press.
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