Last Updated on October 3, 2021
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. questioned the credibility of Justice Department prosecutors as he sentenced a January 6th demonstrator to probation on Friday, pointing to a massive political bias within the department and even reading aloud statistics on Black Lives Matter riot cases that have gone unpunished.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden rejected the recommendation of prosecutors who wanted election integrity demonstrator Danielle Doyle to spend two months under house arrest, instead sentencing the Oklahoma woman to probation. McFadden, who was appointed to the bench by President Trump, went on to question the motives and even-handedness of federal prosecutors, many of whom have vowed to chase January 6th demonstrators to the ends of the earth despite having taken a hands-off approach with far-left, Black Lives Matter and Antifa rioters who spent much of 2020 laying lethal, riotous siege to Washington, D.C. and the nation as a whole.
“I think the U.S. Attorney would have more credibility if it was even-handed in its concern about riots and mobs in this city,” McFadden said during Danielle Doyle’s sentencing hearing, going on to state that the Black Lives Matter riots that gripped America made “us all feel less safe.”
Judge McFadden compared Doyle and Capitol Hill demonstrators’ actions to those of Black Lives Matter rioters, accusing them of “acting like all those looters and rioters last year” who had “decided the law did not apply to them.”
According to court documents, video footage, and several reports issued around the time of her March arrest, Danielle Doyle, 37, entered the U.S. Capitol Building through a window on January 6th, causing no damage to the property and committing no violence on anyone. Her arrest came after a former co-worker recognized her while watching footage of the January 6th event and contacted to FBI.
She was charged in federal court with four misdemeanor counts connected to “rioting” and was released from custody with restrictions on her movements until trial. Her attorney, Irven Box, describes her as a “fantastic young lady who is passionate about her politics.”
Doyle’s sentence to probation by Trump-appointed Judge McFadden stands in stark contrast to the misfortunes of several others charged in connection with the January 6th demonstrations, including that of Andrew Ryan Bennett, an Ohio man who appeared before an Obama-appointed judge last week and, despite not being accused of committing any acts of violence, received a sentence of 3 months under house arrest. Earlier this week, the same Obama-appointed judge sentenced another group of Capitol Hill demonstrators to 45 days in jail.
Additionally, many January 6th demonstrators continue to languish away in a D.C. correctional facility awaiting trial under reportedly dismal and at times violent conditions.
