Shane Jenkins, a Texas man who participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is staring down a potentially lengthy prison sentence, but he apparently thinks there are many more people who should be taking the fall for his crimes.
In a new court filing flagged by CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, Jenkins' attorneys argue that the people who told lies about the 2020 election being stolen, including former President Donald Trump, deserve to be held accountable just as much as their client.
"There remain many grifters out there who remain free to continue propagating the 'great lie' that Trump won the election, Donald Trump being among the most prominent," they write. "Mr. Jenkins is not one of these individuals; he knows he was wrong."
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Regardless, federal prosecutors have singled Jenkins out as a particularly "egregious" Capitol rioter whom they say "planned for violent insurrection long before his arrival" in Washington D.C. for the now-infamous "Stop the Steal" rally on January 6th, 2021.
As prosecutors documented, Jenkins brought a "sharp-bladed tomahawk" with him to Washington, D.C. and also through a desk drawer and a flagpole at police during the riots at the Capitol.
Federal prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of 19 years, while Jenkins' attorneys have said he deserves just four-and-a-half years in prison.
