WASHINGTON (CN) — A Capitol rioter who came to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, wielding a pitchfork and then clashed with officers throughout the day was sentenced to 70 months in prison on Tuesday.
Christopher Roe, 39, traveled from Kansas to Washington equipped with the pitchfork, a six-inch knife, duct tape and zip ties. He assaulted three police officers both outside the Capitol and within, despite being forcefully removed from the building three times.
As U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly passed down the nearly six-year sentence, she warned that the lawlessness Roe and the other rioters participated in will only spark further lawlessness.
The Bill Clinton appointee emphasized that any form of insurrection degrades the Constitution and pointed out that the nation had been through divisive, contested elections before — like the elections of 1824, 1878 and 2000 — and still peacefully transferred power to the new president.
“Overthrowing the government is not the way you preserve democracy,” Kollar-Kotelly said.
In a short statement before the court, Roe apologized and said he was ready to accept responsibility for his actions.
Stephen Moss, a public defender from Missouri representing Roe, requested his client be sentenced to 12 months and one day, as he had been manipulated into joining the insurrection.
Moss pointed to former President Donald Trump's active role spreading false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen and how such claims were amplified by Trump’s lackeys, the conservative media and online.
He argued that the year-and-a-day sentence was appropriate because the real perpetrators behind the insurrection, particularly Trump, have yet to be held accountable.
Kollar-Kotelly commented that Roe’s defense appeared to be “the devil made me do it.”
Roe pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting police officers in November, avoiding 11 other charges related to his conduct.
The first assault occurred outside the Capitol at the West Plaza, where a mob of rioters clashed with police holding them back with metal bicycle racks. Roe tried to remove one of the barricades, failed, then shoved an officer while holding the metal-tipped pitchfork in his other hand. He was then pepper-sprayed, dropped the pitchfork and retreated into the crowd.
Roe later returned to the crowd and entered the Capitol, eventually making his way to the doors of the House Chambers as another rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed while trying to enter.
Roe and the crowd were then pushed toward a nearby exit, where Roe resisted and grabbed an officer’s baton as others surged toward the officers. He exited the Capitol after being sprayed again.
Despite being forced out, Roe circled the building to reenter with another group who forced their way past officers into the Capitol Rotunda. While there, Roe attacked a third officer, using his shoulder to push the officer back before being forced out again.
Undeterred, Roe tried to reenter a third time, unsuccessfully using a bicycle rack as a ram against a set of doors, after which he finally left the premises.
Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Haag recommended a sentence of 71 months, pointing out Roe’s multiple assaults over the course of hours rather than in the heat of the moment.
“Every single time he assaulted an officer, he had 30 minutes to an hour to cool down, but he did not, assaulting one, then another, then another,” Haag said Tuesday.
Kollar-Kotelly’s sentencing decision comes after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jan. 6 defendants' sentences had been improperly lengthened by federal judges applying a sentencing enhancement for interfering with the administration of justice.
The three-judge panel ruled Friday that the enhancement — which can add more than a year to a sentence — only applies to defendants who disrupt judicial proceedings like grand jury investigations or court hearings.
The decision could impact over 100 Jan. 6 defendants’ sentences, and could provide a track for them to challenge and demand sentence reductions.
The D.C. Circuit ruled that Larry Brock, the former Air Force lieutenant who brought the challenge, shall have part of his conviction vacated and his case remanded for resentencing.
In the 37 months since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, over 1,313 people have been charged in connection to the riot, with 91 pleading guilty to assaulting law enforcement. Approximately 490 defendants have been sentenced to prison terms.
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