WASHINGTON (CN) — A Tennessee man and his mother who brought tactical gear, weapons and zip ties into the Senate Chamber during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol received prison terms on Friday.
Eric Munchel, 39, was the subject of one of the most striking images from that day, depicting him in all-black military fatigues with a stun gun strapped to his hip and a fistful of the plastic cuffs — which he had found in a United States Capitol Police cabinet — in the Senate Gallery, where senators had been barely 30 minutes prior. He was sentenced to 57 months.
Munchel’s mother Lisa Eisenhart, 59, also came to the Capitol wearing a tactical vest. She was ordered to 30 months years, behind bars.
Munchel will begin his sentence in December, following the birth of his child. Eisenhart will also be allowed to turn herself then.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said that while he believed the pair had led good lives before Jan. 6, he saw no other reason they would have taken the zip ties, known as Flex Cuffs, other than to use them against lawmakers.
“What purpose you could have had to carry even that one zip tie besides to hold a senator hostage paints too vivid a picture for me to swallow,” the Ronald Reagan appointee said, specifically addressing Eisenhart.
Neither defendant addressed why they decided to take the zip ties in their statements before the court.
But Munchel did express remorse, saying that his decision to participate in the riot “was made in poor judgment.” He also added that reason he and his mother wore tactical gear and brought weapons — a knife and the stun gun — was that they were concerned there would be clashes with counterprotesters.
Eisenhart, who provided a written statement, said that the only reason Munchel was there was because she had asked him to come and that she felt remorseful for being the main reason he was sitting at the defense table with her on Friday.
Justice Department prosecutor Michael Gordon presented footage Munchel had taken as he and his mother made their way through the mob and into the building by strapping his cellphone to his vest. The footage shows Eisenhart urging other rioters to fight with police, acknowledging that bringing weapons into the Capitol was illegal and chanting “treason” while in the Senate gallery.
Gordon argued that the footage showed neither of the two was the leader, rather that they worked “hand in hand” and were equally culpable and should thus receive substantial sentences.
The defendants each had their own defense attorneys, Gregory Smith on behalf of Eisenhart and Joe Allen representing Munchel.
Allen argued that his client had been misguided by his belief in former president Donald Trump — who faces four criminal counts in Washington over his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election which led to the Jan. 6 attack — and had unfortunately listened to him when he called on his supporters to “fight like hell” at his “Stop the Steal” rally earlier that day.
“It’s really unfortunate that there are people in higher power … who are still preying on people today,” Allen said, pointing to Trump and other conservative figures continuing to claim that the 2020 election was stolen, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.
Smith took a similar approach, speaking less on the conduct of his client and more on those of other rioters who had received similar sentences to the 51 months the Justice Department had initially sought for Eisenhart.
He specifically pointed to Jacob Chansley, more commonly known as the “QAnon Shaman,” who Lamberth sentenced to 41 months in November 2021. He noted that Chansley was one of the very first people to enter the building, used a bullhorn to encourage a much larger number of rioters, sat in then-Vice President Mike Pence’s seat on the Senate dais and left a threatening note, warning Pence “It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming!”
Smith said that Chansley was of a “different magnitude than our guys,” to which Lamberth quickly agreed.
“No doubt about that,” he said with a smirk.
Lamberth decided to apply an enhancement to their sentences for threatening members of Congress, finding that statements they had made on Jan. 6 — “We ain’t playing nice no goddamn more,” Lamberth said, quoting Munchel — and the fact they brought the zip ties into the Senate warranted the enhancement.
The pair were convicted during a stipulated bench trial in April, an uncommon legal procedure where the defendants agree to a certain set of facts provided by the government without admitting guilt. Of the approximately 1,146 people who have been charged for their actions during the Capitol riot, 29 have been convicted via a stipulated trial.
Lamberth found Munchel guilty on eight charges and Eisenhart on seven. The two were both convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding, trespassing in the Gallery of Congress, disorderly conduct and parading in the Capitol.
Munchel was also convicted of trespassing, disorderly conduct and unlawful possession of a deadly weapon in the Capitol. Lamberth found Eisenhart guilty of trespassing and disorderly conduct.
In the 32 months since the Capitol riot, approximately 623 people have been sentenced for their actions that day, with about 378 receiving prison terms. The Justice Department's investigation is ongoing, with 312 people who committed acts of violence still unidentified.
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