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A Capitol rioter asked a judge for a lenient sentence—and his reasoning raised eyebrows.
Justin McAuliffe was present at the Capitol riot that took place on January 6, 2021.
The riot was a response to the election loss of former Republican President Donald Trump.
During the riot, Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. During the insurrection, rioters destroyed government property, vandalized the building and threatened government officials.
The event led to several deaths, over 100 law enforcement injuries and millions of dollars in damages.
McAuliffe was not only found guilty of participating in the Capitol riot, but also pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge for demonstrating and picketing inside Capitol building grounds back in November of 2021.
McAuliffe is due to be sentenced on Friday, but in the meantime has made a desperate plea to the judge for a lenient sentence.
McAuliffe's reasoning for asking for a lenient sentence was because he felt he had already paid for his crimes by being denied his TSA precheck and being banned by companies like Airbnb and Lyft.
In seeking leniency from judge in US Capitol breach case, an accountant from New York says he's suffered setbacks because of his conduct on Jan 6\n\n-Lost clients\n-Lost investment partnerships\n-No more rideshare driving\n-No more TSA-pre check\n-Social media "harassment"pic.twitter.com/eabVbe87f2— Scott MacFarlane (@Scott MacFarlane) 1642970220
According to McAuliffe, after being charged for his participation in the Capitol riot, his life was "turned upside-down."
Originally an accountant in Long Island, McAuliffe claimed he lost many clients after being charged for participating in the riot. He also said he was then dropped by Airbnb, let go from his other job at Lyft and had his TSA precheck pass revoked.
While TSA has not yet commented on the issue, the TSA website states US passengers can be suspended from the precheck program for "commit(ting) certain violations of federal security regulations."
A filing presented to the court via McAuliffe's attorneys claims he deserves a lenient sentence because McAuliffe has been working toward "personal redemption and growth" in the time since the riot.
The filing also stated:
"More than anything else, he deeply regrets bringing all this upon his wife and family...It is all his fault. He blames nobody but himself."
Twitter users aren't so sure McAuliffe deserves a lenient sentence, however.
If you do crimes you might lose your Tsa pre-checkhttps://twitter.com/macfarlanenews/status/1485350877129056261\u00a0\u2026— Molly Jong-Fast (@Molly Jong-Fast) 1643027018
Collateral consequences for trying to overthrow our democracy for an accountant nerd from hell.— Richard Signorelli (@Richard Signorelli) 1642970458
\u2026I ask so often, \u201chow did people that evidently had reasonable level of intelligence and maturity get so caught up in this lie, that they thought their actions would be consequences free\u201d— Dr Audrey Glover (@Dr Audrey Glover) 1642970765
It never occurred to him BEFORE storming the Capital?\nPeople were talking out loud (bull horns) about what they were going to do, and the repercussions, but this person wants a Judge to believe, they didn\u2019t \u2018know\u2019 people might hold him accountable?\nConvenient now caught— \u262e\ufe0f#ClimateCrisis 365 days (@\u262e\ufe0f#ClimateCrisis 365 days) 1642971570
He has to stand in line at the airport with the regular folks? Damn— \ud835\ude79\ud835\ude8a\ud835\udea2\ud835\ude97\ud835\ude92\ud835\ude8e\u2019\ud835\ude9c \ud835\ude76\ud835\ude98\ud835\ude9d \ud835\ude8a \ud835\ude71\ud835\ude9e\ud835\ude97 (@\ud835\ude79\ud835\ude8a\ud835\udea2\ud835\ude97\ud835\ude92\ud835\ude8e\u2019\ud835\ude9c \ud835\ude76\ud835\ude98\ud835\ude9d \ud835\ude8a \ud835\ude71\ud835\ude9e\ud835\ude97) 1642970636
The decades long arrogance and they-can't-touch-me-I-am-a-white-American mentality needs to be shown what consequences look like in a very real way. Enough is enough.— Becs Rambaling \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a (@Becs Rambaling \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a) 1642971974
It\u2019s hard when the finding out part arrives. Thoughts and prayers.— BlueDotJen (@BlueDotJen) 1642970606
Those are called consequences for his actions. He doesn't deserve pity. He chose the actions, he chose the consequences.— Merritt Kelly (@Merritt Kelly) 1642971152
he needs to suffer additional setbackshttps://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1485350877129056261\u00a0\u2026— Cheri Jacobus (@Cheri Jacobus) 1642978491
He made his bed, has to lie in it period #January6https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1485350877129056261\u00a0\u2026— Leslie Marshall (@Leslie Marshall) 1642978858
McAuliffe is currently facing up to six months in prison as well as a fine of up to $5,000.