The American justice condemned, this Friday (17), another man who participated in the invasion of the US Capitol, in January of this year. The five-year, three-month prison sentence for Robert Scott Palmer, 54, is the longest sentence handed down so far against an insurgent who took part in one of the country’s biggest attacks on democracy — five people died at the time.
The sentence is also the first involving aggression and resistance to police officers, using a weapon defined by the Department of Justice as “dangerous and deadly”: a fire extinguisher. More than 140 people face the same charge.
During the attack on Legislative Headquarters, Palmer sprayed liquid from a fire extinguisher and then hurled it toward police officers trying to stem the advance of pro-Donald Trump activists. He also threw a plank and a wooden stick.
At the time, instigated by the then president, thousands of protesters sought to interrupt the certifying ceremony for Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the election, alleging that there had been fraud, which was never proven.
According to The Washington Post, Palmer pleaded guilty in October, securing an agreement that his sentence would be between 46 and 57 months. After being arrested, however, the now convict changed his speech and said that he had acted in self-defense, as police officers reportedly fired rubber bullets and tear gas in his direction.
This Friday, he presented a third version and confessed to throwing the objects first, saying that the police shots would have been a reaction to it. Amid the flurry of arguments, his sentence range rose to between 63 and 78 months.
The judge in the case, Tanya Chutkan, then set the lowest sentence of 63 months (5 years and 3 months), the same as requested by the prosecutors. “I have to make it clear [com essa pena] that the actions you were involved in must not happen again. [Aquele que] trying to violently hit the government will have an absolutely firm punishment,” the magistrate said, according to CBS News.
Palmer, for his part, said he was “very ashamed” of what he had done and said he had watched, while in prison, a footage of himself on an MSNBC TV news program. “I was horrified, absolutely devastated to see myself there.”
In a letter to the judge last month, he wrote that he now “realizes that Trump’s supporters were misled by those who, at the time, had too much power”, citing the former president and “those who acted on his behalf”.
During the procedural steps, the defense also adopted the thesis that the republican had deceived his militants. “Palmer went to the Capitol on the orders of the former president. Like many others who participated in the rebellion, he blindly followed the many figures who falsely but persistently claimed the election had been stolen,” his lawyers wrote.
In addition to imprisonment, Chutkan ordered the convict to pay a $2,000 (BRL 11,388) fine. After his time in prison, he still has three years of supervised release.
More than 700 people were arrested on suspicion of being linked to the attack on the Capitol. In November, Jacob Chansley, who became known as “the QAnon’s shaman” after appearing at the invasion wearing a horned fur hat and painted face, was sentenced to 3 years and 5 months in prison.
Two months earlier, Chansley, 34, had also pleaded guilty. He was arrested three days after the episode and charged with civil disorder, obstruction and disorderly conduct.
As of mid-November, more than 30 people had been convicted in connection with the attack, and most had avoided prison terms by pleading guilty to minor offenses such as disorderly conduct.
Five people died during the invasion of the Capitol, including a police officer, who was attacked by protesters. Months later, four agents, who were also present during the attack, committed suicide. About 140 security officers were injured.
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