The Biden Department of Justice is seeking a prison sentence for Infowars journalist Owen Shroyer, claiming that he "spread election disinformation paired with violent rhetoric" to viewers in the months leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol.
A court document filed on Tuesday has revealed that DOJ prosecutors are seeking a 120-day sentence for Shroyer, who was on the Capitol grounds but did not enter the building on J6.
The prosecutors contend that "Shroyer took to a megaphone before leading a crowd to the Capitol" and said "The Democrats are posing as communists, but we know what they really are: they’re just tyrants, they’re tyrants. And so today, on January 6, we declare death to tyranny! Death to tyrants!"
"Shroyer did not stop at the sight of tear gas or sounds of explosions on the west side of the Capitol. He continued marching around to the top of the east steps chanting '1776!,' where rioters would eventually violently breach the Capitol and its police line and halt the transfer of presidential power," the court document states.
"Shroyer did not step foot inside the Capitol, he did not need to; many of those who listened to him did instead. In the aftermath, he has blamed 'Antifa' and told his followers: 'We should have been proud of what happened,' " the document states.
The DOJ claimed that Shroyer "helped create January 6," in that he "stoked the flames of a potential disruption of the certification vote by streaming disinformation about alleged voter fraud and a stolen election to thousands, perhaps millions, of viewers of his program on Infowars."
Reporting for Infowars on Wednesday, Kelen McBreen noted: "Of course, there is no evidence Shroyer ever encouraged people to 'step foot inside the Capitol.' Instead, there is actually footage of Shroyer standing by Infowars founder Alex Jones, who grabbed a megaphone and tried to warn the crowd they were being set up and to turn around."
The court document states that a member of Infowars security detail said on camera, “Let’s take a break right here. Let me talk to this cop and see if I can get [Person One] up there and deescalate the situation,” with “person one” being Jones.
At one point, the feds told the judge presiding over Shroyer’s case “the absence of violent or destructive acts is not a mitigating factor.”
The court document shows prosecutors saying it is important for the judge to jail defendants in order to “deter” American citizens from marching on the Capitol in the future, writing, “general deterrence may be the most compelling reason to impose a sentence of incarceration.”
Prosecutors in Shroyer's case are seeking a sentence of 120 days, 12 months of supervised release, 60 hours of community service, and $500 in restitution.
In June, Shroyer pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering a restricted area, according to the Associated Press. Shroyer will be sentenced on Sept. 12.
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