During a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson slammed Donald Trump and his allies for stoking “the flames of fear” ahead of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and deserve to be held accountable for what they unleashed.
According to Politico, Judge Jackson said the efforts of Trump’s allies stoked “discontent and explicitly encouraged [attendees] to go to the Capitol and fight for one reason and one reason only: to make sure the certification of the election didn’t happen.”
The comments from the magistrate came as she was sentencing Capitol riot defendant Russell Peterson, who was charged with illegally entering the Capitol but not with committing any violence or destruction, Politico reports.
“No one was swept away to the Capitol. No one was carried,” Jackson said to Peterson. “There may be others who bear greater responsibility and should be held accountable. But this is not their day in court. It’s yours.”
Peterson was sentenced to 30 days in jail and $500 in restitution.
As noted by Politico, “Jackson is the latest federal judge to invoke Trump’s conduct as a contributor to the chaos and violence of that day and urge accountability. Judges on the federal bench in Washington, D.C., have expressed a range of views about the culpability of the former president for the riot, but several, like Jackson, have more squarely put the onus on Trump in recent weeks.”
