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The right-wing internet personality known as “Baked Alaska” pleaded guilty Friday in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, federal court records show.
Anthime Gionet, who livestreamed himself storming the Capitol, pleaded guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor, according to the records.
The charge carries up to six months in prison. Attorneys listed as representing Gionet did not immediately return requests for comment Friday night.
A judge scheduled sentencing for Jan. 12, records show.
Gionet entered the Capitol along with hundreds of other rioters that day, and he conducted a 27-minute livestream video while inside, according to court documents.
He chanted slogans and said “Patriots are in control” and “1776” during the riot, which was carried out by a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump, and which disrupted Congress’ formal counting of electoral votes in the election Trump lost.
At one point Gionet urged others to enter the Capitol through a window that had been smashed in, said “trust the … plan” and called a law enforcement officer an “oathbreaker,” he admitted in a statement of facts in the case.
It’s the second try for a plea deal for Gionet. He was set to plead guilty in May but said that he was innocent, so the judge set a date for trial instead.
May 12, 202202:16
Gionet used to work for BuzzFeed, but has since been widely described in news reports as a far-right Internet troll. His attorney has said that he makes his living from making online videos, transcripts show.
He was livestreaming on a platform called DLive. More mainstream internet platforms, including Twitter, had suspended his accounts.
The video Gionet recorded on Jan. 6 has been mentioned in other Capitol riot cases where other people have pleaded guilty.
Anton Lunyk, Francis Connor and Antonio Ferrigno, who all pleaded guilty in April, were seen on Gionet’s video in the workspace of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, according to court documents. They have not yet been sentenced.
The video has been cited in at least two other cases that are still pending, affidavits in those cases show.
More than 850 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department has said.
The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
