A Jan. 6 Capitol rioter who recorded herself saying that they were looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “to shoot her in the frickin’ brain” was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in prison, according to officials.
The attorney for Dawn Bancroft, 59, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, asked for a fine only but a federal judge in Washington sentenced her to the 60 days in prison that prosecutors sought, according to court records.
Prosecutors called her comments about killing Pelosi “among the most graphic statements uttered by any rioter on Capitol grounds that day,” but acknowledged there was no evidence she intended to carry it out.
via FBI
“Be that as it may, just as Bancroft felt herself caught up in the negative energy of the day, her reckless words could have easily led or inspired others to act violently towards members of Congress or police officers,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.
An attorney who represented Bancroft did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
Bancroft pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
She is one of hundreds of people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which was carried out by a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump as Congress was formally counting the electoral votes of the election Trump lost.
Bancroft’s attorney asked for no jail time and a fine only, writing in a court filing that her business, a gym, lost its CrossFit designation a day after her arrest and then half its clients, leaving it “in an almost failing state.”
The attorney, Carina Laguzzi, also argued that Bancroft was only briefly inside the Capitol, and that the video she recorded was after she left and was not meant to be taken literally.
Bancroft also did not publicly post the video, but sent it to a friend, the attorney said. The friend notified the FBI.
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Bancroft entered the Capitol twice through broken-out windows, once for 15 seconds and the second time for one minute and 20 seconds, prosecutors said.
It was when she was leaving the Capitol grounds that the selfie video was made, in which she said: “But we broke into the Capitol. We got inside. We did our part. We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the frickin’ brain. But we didn’t find her,” according to a sentencing memo filed by prosecutors.
Bancroft was sentenced to 60 days in prison, three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $500 fine, according to the Department of Justice.
The counting of the electoral votes on Jan. 6, a formality in a presidential election, was interrupted and members of Congress evacuated the chambers and took shelter, but it took place hours later.
More than 850 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department has said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
