Washington
Capitol rioter draped in Confederate flag gets 33 months
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Maryland man who was draped in a Confederate flag when he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison for assaulting police officers and obstructing an official proceeding during the mob’s attack.
Matthew Ryan Miller, 23, sprayed a fire extinguisher at law enforcement officers who were trying to prevent rioters from entering the building, according to a summary of the case Miller signed. Video also captured Miller throwing an unidentifiable object toward officers, prosecutors said.
Miller traveled to Washington from his home in Cooksville, Maryland. He wore a black cowboy hat, a Washington Capitals jersey and both the Maryland state flag and the Gadsden flag, which features a yellow background and hissing snake, tied around his neck. As the mob gathered on the West side of the building, Miller, who was draped in a Confederate flag at the time, threw a full beer can at the Capitol and police officers, according to court documents.
After using a metal barrier as a ladder to scale a Capitol wall, Miller urged others in the mob to join him in pushing against law enforcement officers on the Lower West Terrace. Miller waved his hand and said “Come on” as the mob chanted “Heave! Ho!” and rocked back and forth in pushing towards the tunnel entrance that law enforcement officers were guarding. Miller put up his fingers as he yelled, “One, two, three, push!” He also sprayed the fire extinguisher at officers in the tunnel.
Miller was freed after his arrest last year but was ordered detained until sentencing after his guilty plea in February.
Lawyer A. Eduardo Balarezo, said Miller’s judgment was clouded by his intoxication and his age, The Washington Post reported. Miller, then 22, had 10 beers, some hard liquor and smoked some marijuana.
“I’m ashamed to have been so swayed by my shortcomings, addictions and naivete. Sadly, I partook in some idiotic actions that have changed my life forever,” Miller told the judge.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, went below sentencing guidelines, saying he was moved by Miller’s statement, his age and intoxication and that he behaved while on pretrial release. Miller must serve two years on supervised release after his prison term. He also must pay $2,000 in restitution.
More than 800 defendants have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 290 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and more than 170 have been sentenced.
Ohio
High court weighs end of $300 weekly unemployment payment
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In June 2021, Gov. Mike DeWine ended Ohio’s participation in a federal pandemic unemployment aid program ahead of a government deadline for stopping the payments.
Attorneys for the Republican governor argue he had the legal authority to do so. People who lost out on additional benefits says DeWine should have continued them.
The Ohio Supreme Court is scheduled Wednesday to hear arguments on both sides. A decision isn’t expected for weeks.
At issue before the court is a weekly $300 federal payment for Ohioans to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government ended that program Sept. 6, but DeWine stopped the payments June 26, 2021, saying the need for the payments was over.
DeWine followed the position of business groups that said the payments were making it difficult to recruit employees. Critics of ending the payments said workers had reasons why they might not be returning to jobs.
Ending the program early stopped about $900 million in Ohio payments. The two sides disagree on whether that money could still be paid, should the court rule against DeWine.
GOP Justice Patrick DeWine, the governor’s son, recused himself to avoid the appearance of impropriety “that might result from my father’s public involvement in this case.”
Maryland
Man pleads guilty to threats to NSA and NSA workers
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to making threats against the National Security Agency and its employees, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Ryan Matthew Conlon, 38, of Halethorpe, pleaded guilty to making interstate threatening communications concerning the NSA and its employees, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron announced.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Conlon to six months of home detention as part of three years’ probation.
Authorities said the FBI identified Conlon early last year as the person behind threats called into an FBI tipline to blow up the NSA and shoot government employees. According to the plea, the FBI traced a threatening call from last Dec. 29 to Conlon, in which the caller discussed a plot to blow up NSA headquarters and shoot NSA workers.
Officials said another caller to the tipline two days later threatened the White House and that the call also was traced to Conlon.
When Conlon was arrested, he acknowledged he might have made the threatening communications which, in fact, he had, according to the plea documents. Conlon sent the communications with the intent to threaten NSA employees, or with the knowledge that the communications would be viewed as a threat, according to the plea.
The NSA headquarters office is based at Fort Meade.
Vermont
Man charged with threatening to kill judge, attorneys
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A former Chittenden County man has been arraigned on charges accusing him of threatening to kill a state court judge, a defense attorney, and a state prosecutor and to sexually assault the prosecutor, according to the Vermont U.S. attorney’s office.
The 35-year-old man pleaded not guilty on Monday and was ordered held pending trial.
He is accused of calling a Vermont Department of Corrections reporting line, saying that when he was released from jail he would use violence and kill and maim those state officials as well as to harm and kill other members of the legal community, federal prosecutors said. The calls were recorded.
The man was recently ordered hospitalized by the state court for mental health considerations, prosecutors said. The Federal Public Defender Office for Vermont, which is representing him, declined to comment on the charges.
