A pro-Trump insurrectionist Paul Hodgkins is set to be put behind bars for participating in the violent protests. The US Capitol Riots were a devastating sight of marauding rioters marching in the US streets targeting government officials and senate members. Police forces and security agents had to stand their ground fighting the protestors, but it seemed the rioters were more motivated as they ransacked buildings. US former president Donald Trump was labeled as the instigator who vocally motivated people to rebel against election outcomes. He went on a wild rant at press conferences and on social media uttering how Biden had stolen elections from him.
Paul Hodgkins was part of a fight for honor, but it quickly turned into a violent movement targeting prominent politicians. Initially, Trump’s loyal voters and supporters gathered in the streets trying to lick elections’ defeat wounds together. Still, most of them were either shocked or in denial that their iconic leader had lost the throne to Biden. Trump exploited his supporters’ love for him and triggered a protest. He threw around statements that steered anger among his people, thereby lighting up raging anger. Through his social media accounts, the former president did not accept defeat but cited how electoral officials worked together with Joe Biden to steal the victory from him. Even before final results were announced, Trump was already accusing the electoral organization of cheating because it was clear on the polls gathered that Biden amassed more votes.
Paul Hodgkins’ narration of events begins from how Donald Trump successfully convinced his loyalists with ‘facts’ and ‘reasons’ relating to how Biden and the electoral commission had cheated in a premeditated plan to oust him. After hearing the outcry of their ‘defeated’ leader, the Trump supporters sought to fight for him and restore his honor and integrity. The plan was to go after every government official who might have been involved in removing Trump, so they attacked government facilities. While all of this was taking place, Trump was cheering them on and fuelling the anger by further accusing Biden of plotting against him. It seems like Trump had underestimated the impact of his utterances and did not expect a riot of that magnitude.
In the insurrection by conservatives, Paul Hodgkins was one of the major participants who were exerting force in accomplishing their ‘destructive’ mission. Mr. Hodgkins narrated his ‘bad’ decision of following a crowd of about hundreds who were heading to Capitol Hill straight into the Capitol building. According to him, he was taking a stroll down Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue and got excited to join the protesting ‘train’ of people. When he joined the rioters, Mr. Hodgkins told the judge that “If I had any idea that the protest would escalate (the way) it did, I would never have ventured farther than the sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue.” To him, the protests were going to be stamped out soon, but they ended up causing concrete havoc in the Capitol. Hodgkins’s defined his act of protesting as “a foolish decision” on his part and regrets doing so [Source].
The 38-year-old is bound to face jail time after the judge sentenced him to eight months in prison. Paul Hodgkins becomes the first rioter to be sentenced among many who are being accused of the Capitol insurrection. Prosecutors suggested for Hodgkins to be locked up for 18 months because he contributed to crime just as much as any rioter in the streets on that day. Prosecutors alluded to how politicians were forced to seek protection from mobs and abandon their duties of establishing Biden’s elections victory. He made a plea deal after he pled guilty to the charges of obstructing an official proceeding, and this crime carries about 20 years in prison. The plea deal reduced the charges, which included entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct.
By July, the FBI had arrested about 535+ suspects, and it was assisted by videos that showed rioters in action. FBI officials applauded the importance of social media, where many users posted protest videos and pictures, so the FBI used that material to identify perpetrators [Source]. Hodgkins was shown in an image steeping on the floor of the US Senate. Hodgkins’s sentencing comes after Anna Morgan Lloyd, a 49-year-old woman charged with disorderly conduct last month and was sentenced to 3 years of probation.
Paul Hodgkins’s sentence might be used as a yardstick for the oncoming individuals who might take a plea deal. This shows how determined the law enforces are in punishing the criminals to deter any future insurrections.
