No jail for Kansas grandmother who rioted at US Capitol

WASHINGTON (CN) — Two friends from Kansas attended former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally and were eating their lunch later when they saw people running into the Capitol building and decided to join them. On Wednesday, one of them was sentenced to 24 months of probation. 

A video shows Jennifer Parks entering the Capitol after first comforting someone who had been injured or pepper-sprayed once they exited the building. Prosecutors recommended one month of home confinement and 36 months of probation for the 61-year-old mother and grandmother, saying she should have known better than to go into the thick of it after witnessing the chaos underway. 

“There were so many red flags that were presented to the defendant on that day,” Justice Department attorney Anita Eve told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols at Parks’ sentencing hearing on Wednesday. 

Federal public defender Maria Jacob retorted, however, that the government has no evidence Parks witnessed all of the violence that occurred on the West side of the Capitol building. 

Parks, along with her friend Esther Schwemmer, wandered around the Capitol building for 15 minutes before being told to leave the building by law enforcement officers. Since then, Jacob said, Parks has fully cooperated with law enforcement officers and has shown sincere remorse. 

“Ms. Parks deserves a relatively light sentence,” Nichols said, noting Parks’ unblemished record, little social media engagement and high cooperation with police. “Her conduct is relatively mild compared to others who were arrested that day.” 

Nichols also noted that Parks is the caretaker of her 90-year-old mother, and that her friends and family describe her as a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother. 

Parks declined to speak at her sentencing hearing, saying that she was afraid that she’d “lose it” if she spoke, but asked Nichols to ponder her sentence “prayerfully.”

In a letter to Nichols, Parks wrote that her life has been turned upside down since her arrest: Her mother was so traumatized that Parks had to move her to a retirement home; she had to close her piano business of 35 years; and she was accidentally arrested a second time when she tried to go to a doctor’s appointment. 

“All these changes are difficult and challenging but I realize they are consequences of my actions on January 6th,” Parks wrote. “I believe I am wiser and more discerning now than I was then and I will spend years trying to make it up to the people I’ve disappointed.”

Schwemmer will be sentenced on Dec. 21. 

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit