John Cameron thought he had the perfect way to curry favor with the federal judge who was about to hand down a sentence for his role in the January 6 Capitol riots.
But the judge, according to The Washington Post, was not impressed:
“Can you guess who my favorite president is?” asked the man about to be sentenced for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Senior Judge Thomas F. Hogan did not respond. So John Cameron, a real estate agent from the Seattle area, answered his own question. “Ronald Reagan,” he said during the hearing Monday, suggesting the judge might agree. Hogan was appointed to the federal bench in Washington by Reagan 40 years ago.
Cameron, 55, went on to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, which Reagan made part of Flag Day ceremonies that same year.
Judge Hogan began asking Cameron questions about what he’d done on Jan. 6:
How, he asked, could Cameron claim to have seen no violence or clear sign he could not enter the Capitol during the riot? Did he not hear murderous chants and blaring alarms, smell tear gas, see people climbing up scaffolding and through windows? Did he think, as he said on Facebook, that it was all “fun”? And if so, was he withdrawing his plea to a misdemeanor charge?
Cameron sheepishly replied:
“No. I picketed within the Capitol, and that was illegal. … I would never do it again.”
The judge then let Cameron know exactly what he thought about yahoos who decided to break into the Capitol building and call for former Vice President Mike Pence to be hung:
“I keep hearing from Jan. 6 defendants, ‘We’re being prosecuted,’ like it’s a surprise, or ‘We’re being persecuted,’ like it’s unfair. I do not understand that psychology. What irritates me most is that all of you are claiming you’re patriots; you’re not patriots when you attack the Capitol of the United States.”
Cameron was sentenced to three years probation and 30 days of intermittent confinement, along with a $1,000 fine and $500 restitution.
Before he left the courtroom, Cameron also got this warning from Judge Hogan:
“If you had pleaded to a felony, I would just put you in jail for a long time. The court at least hopes that in this three-year period, you don’t engage in any such conduct again.”
