CBS News reporter Scott MacFarlane on Wednesday noticed that a federal prosecutor made what he called "striking" remarks at the resentencing hearing for convicted Capitol rioter Thomas Robertson.
Specifically, MacFarlane said that the prosecutor made an urgent plea to not drastically cut Robertson's original sentence, which totaled seven years in prison, because of the need to set deterrence for the upcoming presidential election.
"The need for deterrence is at an all-time high," the prosecutor said, according to MacFarlane.
The prosecutor went on to emphasize that the Trump-incited January 6th riots at the United States Capitol were "an unprecedented disruption of government’s most sacred freedoms" and warned that "it must not be treated as ‘just another crime.'"
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MacFarlane then commented that, "I've heard judges specifically reference the fragility of democracy at this moment" and then added that "in this hearing, the Justice Dept is leaning into its argument about the profound damage of Jan. 6."
Although former President Donald Trump initially condemned the violent assault on a coequal branch of government done in his name, he has since come to celebrate the rioters by paying tribute to them at the beginnings of his rallies and he had even allowed for a January 6th "awards gala" to be held on one of his properties before the event was recently postponed.
Striking statements just now from federal prosecutor at a Jan 6 sentencing hearing for former Virginia police officer Thomas Robertson
Without explicitly mentioning upcoming election, she argues:
“The need for deterrence is at an all-time high”
(More)
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 4, 2024
