DOJ Secures 200th Guilty Plea In Capitol Insurrection

     Justin Stoll is a pathetic excuse for a human being. On January 6th, 2021, he joined the thousands in the angry mob who followed up on attending Trump's rally at the Ellipse by marching to the Capitol. He walked past barricades torn down by angry rioters and had fun hurling obscenities at the U.S. Capitol Police. Interestingly enough, he technically didn't break any laws that day, and he knew it.

     It's what he did after the insurrection that got him into trouble. He published videos of the violence on his YouTube channel. A viewer said that they had saved the videos and reported them to the authorities and that Stoll would likely be going to prison. Stoll, 41, username "The3RealHuckleberry," replied: "Well, that shows your fucking ignorance because, clearly the capitol building is owned by the people, so again, nothing will happen. Secondly, I never admitted I went into it, did I? Go watch the video again. Daddy's not stupid. [Wink.] Third, if you ever in your fucking existence did something to jeopardize taking me away from my family, you will absolutely meet your maker. You can play that for the D.A. in court, I don't care. If you ever jeopardize me, from being with my family, you will absolutely meet your motherfucking maker, and I will be the one to arrange the meeting." 

     Stoll didn't end up getting charged by his local D.A. in Ohio, but by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Initially charged with witness tampering and interstate threats and facing up to 25 years in prison, he pled guilty to the interstate threats charge and now faces up to five years in prison. I hope he gets a sentence on the longer end: the fact that he blames his victim for the crime he committed is despicable.

     If what Stoll did is despicable, just remember one thing: his story is just one of the 200 for people who went to the Capitol, participated in the riot, were arrested, and pled guilty. It was in September the DOJ secured 50 guilty pleas, October that it secured 100 guilty pleas, December that it secured 150 guilty pleas, and now January that it secured 200 guilty pleas, most for the lowest-level misdemeanor cases. At this rate, about half of the Capitol cases, likely most of the misdemeanor cases, will be resolved by July 2022. At the same time, dozens of Capitol rioters are preparing to go to trial. One way or another, the supermajority of the Capitol insurrection cases will be decided in 2022. Let's hope the judges for the federal circuit decide to send a message. 

     The Trump era is testing America's foundation. The processes in the United States Constitution were designed to stop the rise of the populist and prevent the rule of the mob, and this is the greatest threat it has faced since the Civil War. If the DOJ and America's federal judges nip this problem in the bud, it will hopefully avoid coming to that.