A former Marine charged with disorderly conduct and illegal entry of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Thursday to 2 years’ probation, 60 hours of neighborhood service and $500 in restitution after each the prosecution and protection used his prior army service to additional their arguments in courtroom.
On Jan. 6, Andrew Cavanaugh, 37, entered the Capitol by way of the Senate Wing minutes after the preliminary breach of the constructing. He remained within the constructing for simply over half-hour, excitedly pumping his fist earlier than witnessing regulation enforcement partaking with rioters after which shortly climbing out of a window, in response to courtroom filings.
Cavanaugh pleaded responsible in February to at least one rely of parading, demonstrating, and picketing in alternate for regulation enforcement cooperation, in response to his plea settlement. He doesn’t have any recognized prior legal document.
Learn Subsequent: Did an Airman Supply a Bribe to Cross Health Check? Ramstein Officers Investigating
Whereas his sentencing was brief relative to different veterans convicted of crimes in relation to the assault on the Capitol, Cavanaugh’s courtroom proceedings revealed attorneys from either side of the courtroom drawing consideration to his army service.
“Any good protection crew will use every thing they’ll to argue for lighter sentencing on behalf of their consumer, and any good prosecution will do their utmost to guard most people and make sure that justice is finished,” Andrew Mines, an extremism researcher with The George Washington College’s Program on Extremism, advised Navy.com in reference to Cavanaugh’s case. “At a number of phases of his and different January sixth trials involving defendants with army background, we have now seen protection and prosecution groups use army expertise to totally different ends, from opening arguments to the sentencing section.”
The prosecution argued that Cavanaugh’s expertise as a Marine ought to have prevented him from getting into the Capitol grounds in any respect, the place he would have seen a police barrier intact upon his arrival.
“As a former Marine safety guard of U.S. Embassies, Cavanaugh was effectively conscious of the good jeopardy posed by violent entry right into a safe authorities constructing and he was conscious of the violence required to breach a safe authorities constructing such because the Capitol,” the Division of Justice stated in a June courtroom submitting.
Cavanaugh’s final responsibility project as a Marine was as a part of an embassy safety detachment in Dublin, Eire, in response to his service document.
Courtroom filings stated that Cavanaugh watched regulation enforcement deploy tear gasoline on the Capitol, realizing “he shouldn’t have gone inside.” Two days earlier than, he traveled from Bozeman, Montana, to Washington, D.C., to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Cease the Steal” rally.
Courtroom information famous he used his army coaching to deal with different rioters for accidents and tried to exit the Capitol “shortly.”
“On this case, Cavanaugh’s former army service makes his conduct on January 6 extra egregious and demonstrates a really actual want for a sentence that displays the seriousness of the offense, promotes respect for regulation, and affords deterrence,” the DOJ doc continued. The prosecution requested 30 days in jail.
The protection sought to make use of his army background as a method to explain his public service. NBC Correspondent Scott MacFarlane reported that his protection argued he used his army coaching to deescalate different rioters. Cavanaugh himself expressed regret in courtroom, saying that the assault modified his life “greater than serving in fight” and lamenting the division within the nation.
Cavanaugh’s legal professional, Maria Jacob, declined Navy.com’s request for remark.
However Mines stated that protection counsel’s elevating of army service has been typical in Jan. 6 instances.
“We now have seen arguments that defendants’ service to their nation needs to be rewarded, whether or not as warranting dismissal of a defendant’s case completely, explaining why a defendant felt compelled by a way of responsibility to behave, or justifying lighter sentencing,” he stated. “Protection groups have argued that service to nation shouldn’t be met with harsh punishment, however fairly compassion and respect.”
Cavanaugh, a former infantryman, served within the Marines for eight years with one deployment to Afghanistan and one to Iraq, incomes two Fight Motion Ribbons, in response to his service document. He left the service as a sergeant in 2011.
Veterans teams have beforehand deliberate to expel those that participated within the assault on the Capitol from their organizations.
Earlier than handing down the probation sentence, Choose Amit Mehta stated that Cavanaugh ought to have recognized higher than to have entered the Capitol due to his army historical past, in response to NBC, however added that he “laid his life on the road for this nation” and was duped by those that claimed the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.
Cavanaugh, a Montana resident, was recognized partly by the hat he was sporting on the Capitol on Jan. 6, in response to an announcement from a Bozeman-based FBI agent. The hat learn “Tactical Citizen,” the title for the corporate he owns and for which he’s a “tactical teacher,” in response to a LinkedIn profile that seems to belong to him.
Greater than 850 folks have been arrested for his or her involvement within the Jan. 6 assault, in response to the DOJ. The Pentagon confronted strain to evaluate extremism amongst these at present serving, and contemplate methods to decrease radicalization amongst veterans, given the variety of military-connected rioters concerned within the siege in comparison with their civilian counterparts.
GW’s Program on Extremism estimates that 102 people with recognized army connections, an amazing majority of them veterans, have been charged for Jan. 6. That is about 12% of whole rioters federally charged.
— Drew F. Lawrence might be reached at drew.lawrence@army.com. Observe him on Twitter @df_lawrence.
Associated: First Lively-Obligation Service Member Sentenced for Jan. 6 Hit with Prolonged Jail Time
© Copyright 2022 Navy.com. All rights reserved. This materials will not be printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
