WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judge handed a five-year prison sentence Friday to a member of the far-right Proud Boys who pepper-sprayed two Capitol police officers and who breached a police line that allowed other rioters to enter the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich emphasized that the actions of 37-year-old Barry Ramey and his fellow Proud Boys were consequential in turning the tide against law enforcement trying to hold back the mob of people.
“Ramey played a pivotal role in advancing the riot,” the Trump-appointed Freidrich said in court. “Ramey and many others he came with were prepared for violence that day.”
According to the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum, Ramey was part of a large group of Proud Boys who gathered around the Washington Monument on the morning of Jan. 6 to receive instructions from Proud Boy leader Ethan Nordean that sent them marching toward the Capitol. The memo identifies Ramey in this march with photos showing him wearing a tactical vest and knee pads.
Later photos show Ramey using pepper spray on two U.S. Capitol Police officers, David Riggleman and Bryant Williams. Williams testified at Ramey’s bench trial in March that the spray felt “like my face was burning, it was on fire.”
In court Friday before Friedrich set his prison sentence, Ramey apologized for his actions and to the officers he had sprayed.
“I am sorry for everything; I am guilty of everything you have found me guilty for,” Ramey said in a brief statement. “I take full responsibility for my actions. I have no one else to blame but myself.”
Friedrich said she struggled to believe the sincerity of Ramey’s apology, considering he had not expressed remorse before his sentencing and that it contradicted numerous statements he had made to right-wing commentators, including one to a podcast called “Justice in Jeopardy.”
“I know I have crosses to bear, and I’m not saying that I’m innocent, but I’m definitely not guilty of all that I’m charged with,” Ramey said in the February interview.
Ramey's five-year sentence is lower than the nine years the Justice Department first sought, a decision Friedrich attributed in part to the lack of evidence from the prosecution that Ramey had a history of threatening those who upset him.
Ramey’s defense lawyer Farheena Siddiqui conceded Friday that there were incidents in which her client made threatening statements to a landlord, an acquaintance and an unidentified woman. As judges in Florida found, however, Siddiqui said they were not credible threats.
Justice Department attorney Kathryn Fifield argued the opposite, saying Ramey's behavior shows a pattern of aggression that warranted the longer sentence.
“These are extreme responses toward individuals with very low-level provocations,” Fifield said after describing an incident in which Ramey allegedly tracked down a UPS manager through their relatives on Facebook regarding a customer-service issue.
Friedrich expressed doubt on both arguments, wondering whether Ramey was “extraordinarily unlucky or very effective at defending himself.” Without any evidence, however, the judge decided that the alleged threats were irrelevant to the case.
She conceded that Ramey was “hot-headed and a loose cannon” but chalked that up to anger-management issues, not signs of a dangerous person. She ordered Ramey to seek treatment while incarcerated to address such issues.
Friedrich also based her decision on the outcomes of countless other cases related to Jan. 6, in which she and many of her colleagues have ordered less prison time than government prosecutors have requested.
In the 30 months since the Capitol riot, the Justice Department has charged more than 1,000 people for their actions on Jan. 6 and sentenced approximately 561 people. The investigation is still ongoing, with 323 individuals connected with violent actions still unidentified.
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