US Capitol Rioter Sentenced to Probation

On June 23, a supporter of former President Trump who was part of the January 6 insurrection was sentenced to probation. Anna Morgan-Lloyd, 49, from rural Indiana, had spent 10 minutes inside the US Capitol. She became the first rioter to be punished in the ongoing riot investigation. 

The hearing took place in DC federal court where Morgan-Lloyd pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor for trespassing inside the building as part of the mob on January 6. In restitution, she was also ordered to pay $500. 

At the hearing, Judge Royce Lamberth stated that the riot was a “disgrace”, and slammed the “utter nonsense” coming from some GOP lawmakers and other right-wing personalities who are downplaying the incident. Without naming anyone, with reference to the Republican lawmakers, Lamberth said, “I don’t know what planet they were on.” He added that newly released videos from the insurrection “will show the attempt of some congressman to rewrite history that these were tourists walking through the capitol is utter nonsense.”

The judge said that the only reason Morgan-Lloyd avoided jail time was that she wasn’t a participant in the violence that unfolded and condemned those who engaged in it. He cautioned the other defendants that they could face jail time if they continued defending their behavior on January 6. “Some of these defendants are not going to do what you did. They’re not going to say they did anything wrong. They, to this day, would still participate in the demonstration… I don’t want to create the impression that probation is the automatic outcome here because it’s not going to be,” Lamberth asserted. 

Lamberth also stressed that the insurrection was not a “peaceful demonstration”, nor was it an “accident that turned violent.”

As the investigation approaches its six-month mark, Morgan-Lloyd’s sentencing is a watershed moment. The federal probe now has approximately 500 defendants from 43 states.