Capitol Rioter's 17-Year Jail Sentence Sparks MAGA Fury

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene likened the 17-year prison sentence for Proud Boys member Joseph Biggs to legal consequences for child molesters.

Federal prosecutors originally wanted to put Biggs behinds bars for 33 years, which would have been the highest sentence for anyone affiliated with the January 6 Capitol riot. In May, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years on similar seditious conspiracy charges while Proud Boys leader and Biggs ally Enrique Tarrio is scheduled to be sentenced next week.

Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran, was somber in court on Thursday, even praising Donald Trump-appointed Judge Timothy Kelly for how he handled the proceedings. While Biggs expressed remorse for some of his actions and said he wasn't a hateful person, his attorney, Norm Pattis, called the decision "Soviet style" and that the punishment did not fit the crime.

"Biggs got more time than most first offense child molesters," Greene wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following his sentencing.

Mandatory minimum sentences for sexual abuse-related crimes, according to data from 2016 analyzed by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, vary and mandatory minimum penalties for sex offenses per that data were applied less often in the federal system compared to other mandatory minimum penalties.

The Georgia representative also said that all involved with and charged for their actions on January 6 should be pardoned because "they've been persecuted enough." She also questioned how many Black Lives Matter "rioters" are in prison.

Newsweek reached out to Greene via email for comment.

Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman responded to Greene, calling her a "white supremacist" supporting an attempted coup that led to multiple deaths at the Capitol.

"Black Lives Matter protesters were peaceful protesters," Bowman said on X. "They didn't hurt or kill anyone. Within some protests [protestors] may have damaged property, yes, but nobody was hurt or killed. ... We can't let the BS persist."

One X user claiming to be a friend of Biggs called the sentencing "unbelievable," saying even one hour of jail time would be too much but that 17 years is a "travesty and a complete perversion of justice."

Videos from January 6 recorded by Biggs and featuring other attendees were celebratory, with Biggs proudly saying they "stormed the Capitol" and that "it was so much fun." He also predicted that it would be "a day of infamy."

Biggs was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan and left service with the rank of sergeant, bringing home with him a Purple Heart as well as other decorations.

One X user self-described as a Trump and Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporter said Biggs's sentence is due to a "democrat regime justice system." She described him as a "political POW [prisoner of war].

"Joe Biggs was inside the Capitol building for 20 minutes and will spend the next 17 years of his life in Federal prison," wrote another user. "Ray Epps orchestrated and led an insurrection into the Capitol building, lied to Congress about it, and is walking around right now free as a bird."

Epps, a January 6 protester and former fervent supporter of Donald Trump, became a lightning rod for conservatives after speculation spread that he was a government plant who traveled from his former residence in Arizona to Washington, D.C., to escalate the situation.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson specifically singled out Epps, formerly an avid Fox News viewer, in over two dozen segments.

In July, Epps filed a lawsuit accusing Fox News and Carlson of sowing doubt in the results of the 2020 election. He claims he was cast as the "poorly cast villain" while the cable network was in the throes of another defamation lawsuit involving Dominion Voting Systems—which it ultimately settled out of court for $787 million.