# 7 Jan 2021 and beyond - the aftermath of the storming of the Capitol **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 8, 2021, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020 "2021-01-08T10:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 242
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4831 "2023-10-18T13:39:20Z")
most of us on the sdmb, including you, not what you’d expect, would have done due diligence, not taken things at face value. i believe that we would need a lot more facts. although… once in a crowd or mob, behaivour that you would do individually does erode. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4832 "2023-10-18T13:58:45Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I was/am a pretty big fan of Barack Obama. I have often wondered what I might have done if he had told me that I needed to fight for him for some reason. I was/am a pretty big fan of Barack Obama – but that’s because of Obama’s positions and his behavior. If he started acting like Trump, I wouldn’t say “It’s Obama so it must be right!” I’d say “What the hell happened to Obama? I’m not a fan of his anymore!” Which is, effectively, what my father and a lot of other Republicans, including many of the ones in Congress, did about Nixon when they found out about Watergate. What seems to be happening now is a different reaction entirely. Admittedly, if an Obama who had in all other ways been behaving like Obama had announced that he’d discovered a conspirancy to undermine the vote and we all needed to do something to stop it from succeeding – I’d have taken that seriously, though I’d have investigated before trying to break into any buildings. But not if he’d been behaving like Trump for years. Having said that – if I’d been getting all my information for ten or twenty years from highly biased sources, I don’t suppose I’d have had any remotely accurate idea of how Obama, or anybody else, had been behaving. I try not to do that, though I mostly can’t stand to read the wingnuts. – how much of the different reaction to Nixon had to do with everybody getting basically the same TV channels at the time is hard to tell; but I bet it was at least some of it. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4833 "2023-10-18T14:17:45Z")
Is there a scorecard somewhere for the January 6 mob that stormed the Capital that shows Number of guilty pleas Number of trials Number of found guilty at trial Number found not guilty (any?) Number of years in prison (total) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4834 "2023-10-18T14:41:45Z")
[Here’s one (as of October 13):](https://www.npr.org/2021/02/09/965472049/the-capitol-siege-the-arrested-and-their-stories) > [@](#): > > ### An overview of the cases so far > > - Number of people charged, federal: **1,166** > - Number of people who have pleaded guilty: **682** > - Number of individuals who have had jury, bench, or stipulated bench trials: **151** > - The number with mixed verdicts: **42** > - The number convicted on all charges: **107** > - The number acquitted on all charges: **2** > - Number of people sentenced: **680** > - The percentage of people sentenced who have received prison time: **64** > - The median sentence for those who received prison time, in days: **120** > - The number of cases dismissed: **7** federal ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4835 "2023-10-18T16:24:43Z")
Thanks for that link. Bookmarked (NPR is keeping track). ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4836 "2023-10-18T17:33:45Z")
Nice! 0.24% of people were acquitted of all charges in final disposition. 2 out of 833. Only 333 cases left to go - either pleading guilty or going to trial. And the odds are not with them if they go to trial. 2/151 people have gotten off via this method. That’s a **1.3% chance** of full acquittal. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4837 "2023-10-18T17:41:38Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I just find it appalling the such a huge percentage of our population has fallen under the spell of such a complete fraud. In the 2016 election I kept my mouth shut about the people who were swayed to vote for Trump. After all he is a consummate con-man telling the rubes what they want to hear. That forbearance disappeared in the 2020 election when after four years exposure to his… administration _more_ people voted for him than in the previous election. Either the new ones had spent those years with their heads firmly ~~up their ass~~ buried in the sand, or they embrace Trump and his policies. I don’t know which aspect is more horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4838 "2023-10-18T23:35:55Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > > > I was/am a pretty big fan of Barack Obama. I have often wondered what I might have done if he had told me that I needed to fight for him for some reason. > > I was/am a pretty big fan of Barack Obama – but that’s because of Obama’s positions and his behavior. If he started acting like Trump, I wouldn’t say “It’s Obama so it must be right!” I’d say “What the hell happened to Obama? I’m not a fan of his anymore!” > > Which is, effectively, what my father and a lot of other Republicans, including many of the ones in Congress, did about Nixon when they found out about Watergate. What seems to be happening now is a different reaction entirely. > > Admittedly, if an Obama who had in all other ways been behaving like Obama had announced that he’d discovered a conspirancy to undermine the vote and we all needed to do something to stop it from succeeding – I’d have taken that seriously, though I’d have investigated before trying to break into any buildings. But not if he’d been behaving like Trump for years. > > Having said that – if I’d been getting all my information for ten or twenty years from highly biased sources, I don’t suppose I’d have had any remotely accurate idea of how Obama, or anybody else, had been behaving. I try not to do that, though I mostly can’t stand to read the wingnuts. – how much of the different reaction to Nixon had to do with everybody getting basically the same TV channels at the time is hard to tell; but I bet it was at least some of it. If Obama had announced that he’d unearthed a conspiracy to rig the vote and we needed to take drastic action to stop it, but his handpicked heads of the FBI and DOJ and other security agencies all said there was nothing to his theory, and he lost 60+ legal actions because judges said his theory was bullshit and if instead of believing all that Obama doubled down and started hanging out with a bunch of wild-eyed and sometimes intoxicated crazies who believed in his theory and he started doing increasingly stupid stuff like strong arming government officials en masse in an effort to hang onto power and calling on his supporters to come out to help block the transfer of power…….I would assume he’d had a serious mental breakdown and not only would I not answer the call, I’d advocate removing him from office via the 25th Amendment, because it’s cruel to let the mentally ill publicly embarrass themselves for spectacle. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4839 "2023-10-18T23:42:26Z")
Yeah. I think that would come under my concept of acting like Trump instead of acting like Obama. And noticing all of that would come under my concept of investigating before breaking any doors down. You make a really good point that somebody sensible who at first believed Trump (if such a thing could happen) should have switched gears somewhere in those 60+ legal actions. I’d think it would be hard to miss, whatever news you paid attention to, that he kept losing them. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4840 "2023-10-18T23:59:50Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I was/am a pretty big fan of Barack Obama – but that’s because of Obama’s positions and his behavior. If he started acting like Trump, I wouldn’t say “It’s Obama so it must be right!” I’d say “What the hell happened to Obama? I’m not a fan of his anymore!” That’s the difference between being a supporter and being a cultist. You support someone because of what they do. A cultist will worship someone no matter what they do. I believe that a number of people who stormed the capitol that day were (and may still be) cultists. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4841 "2023-10-19T00:05:35Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I believe that a number of people who stormed the capitol that day were (and may still be) cultists. And will deny that they were ever in a cult. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4842 "2023-10-19T00:49:20Z")
Yep. And they’ll fire back at the accusation by saying “No. You’re brainwashed. By the MSM!” There’s just no reaching some people. They will need some serious deprogramming to get back to reality. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4843 "2023-10-19T01:20:38Z")
Not a problem as long as you believe what’s been dinned into your ears for years: that everyone in government except for Dear Leader and his entourage is part of the Deep State and is out to get him. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4844 "2023-10-19T03:57:10Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > But one person is responsible for inciting them to do what they did on Jan 6, and my hope is that that individual is held to account and gets maximum justice served. Yeah, Judge Chutkan noted during a previous Jan 6 sentencing that there was an individual responsible who had not been charged. I hope that someday we find this person and sentence them to prison. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4845 "2023-10-19T13:52:20Z")
What I found amusing was that Trump’s lawyers tried to use that comment as a basis to have Judge Chutkan disqualified, and her response was essentially, “I didn’t name any names. Why are you assuming that I was talking about Trump?” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4846 "2023-10-19T20:58:08Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I would assume he’d had a serious mental breakdown and not only would I not answer the call, I’d advocate removing him from office via the 25th Amendment, Of course. But Trump didn’t need a mental breakdown. He started in the basement and started digging. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4847 "2023-10-20T02:10:09Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > If Obama had announced that he’d unearthed a conspiracy to rig the vote and we needed to take drastic action to stop it, but his handpicked heads of the FBI and DOJ and other security agencies all said there was nothing to his theory, and he lost 60+ legal actions because judges said his theory was bullshit and if instead of believing all that Obama doubled down and started hanging out with a bunch of wild-eyed and sometimes intoxicated crazies who believed in his theory and he started doing increasingly stupid stuff like strong arming government officials en masse in an effort to hang onto power and calling on his supporters to come out to help block the transfer of power…….I would assume he’d had a serious mental breakdown and not only would I not answer the call, I’d advocate removing him from office via the 25th Amendment, because it’s cruel to let the mentally ill publicly embarrass themselves for spectacle. Well said. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4848 "2023-10-20T17:16:43Z")
> **[Conviction of Jan. 6 Defendant For ‘Corruptly’ Obstructing Congress Upheld](https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/conviction-of-jan.-6-defendant-for-corruptly-obstructing-congress-upheld)** > > The court’s ruling on 18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2) will have far-reaching consequences for the hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants charged under the same statute, including Trump Everyone involved in the J6 uprising could be considered to have been acting “corruptly” - including Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4849 "2023-10-23T00:37:58Z")
Apparently, some of the J6 crowd that have been convicted are a little salty that one of the people who flim-flammed them into prison has gotten off so light: [Attorneys for Jan. 6 Inmates Furious About Sidney Powell’s Breezy Sentence (msn.com)](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/attorneys-for-jan-6-inmates-furious-about-sidney-powell-s-breezy-sentence/ar-AA1iDoaa?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=ce0946a2561f4b54cb28e387c2b96eef&ei=23) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020/4850 "2023-10-23T00:45:44Z")
The justice system does treat certain crimes worse than others: namely, violent crimes that risk harm to other people will get more serious sentences than crimes that do not pose a direct risk of physical harm: > [@](#): > > Lawyers for Jan. 6 rioters are railing about the light sentence handed lawyer Sidney Powell despite the fact she was a key architect in the election lies that helped trigger the storming of the Capitol and land their gullible foot soldier clients in prison. > > “Gobsmacked is certainly an appropriate description, considering the sentences that have been imposed against others who believed the lies spread by Donald Trump, Sidney Powell and others,” attorney Bjorn Brunvand told [Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/20/sidney-powell-plea-deal-gobsmacked-00122795). > > Brunwand’s client Robert Palmer was [sentenced to 63 months in prison](https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/florida-man-sentenced-63-months-prison-assaulting-law-enforcement-during-capitol-breach) for assaulting police officers at the US Capitol. That’s always been the way it is: the justice system is most concerned about risks of physical harm. And, first offenders will almost always get a more lenient sentence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020.md?page=241) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/7-jan-2021-and-beyond-the-aftermath-of-the-storming-of-the-capitol/930020.md?page=243)