The Daily Populous Thursday November 23rd, 2023 day edition
Authored by salon.com and submitted by devlinadl

A New York massage therapist who joined Trump-supporting rioters in storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to three months in jail after he dodged court hearings, insulted a prosecutor and verbally attacked the judge who punished him. According to the Associated Press, Frank Giustino pleaded guilty in February to a misdemeanor charge related to the Jan. 6 insurrection but was arrested last month after failing to appear in court for a previously scheduled sentencing hearing.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg admonished Giustino on Tuesday, stating that he seemed to have no remorse for his conduct during the attack or any respect for the nation's authority. “Your behavior from the moment of the (guilty) plea until sentencing has been about the worst of any January 6th defendant I’ve had,” the judge said. Giustino, however, said he condemned the violence and didn't intend to be disrespectful. “I just want to go home,” said Giustino, who will remain in custody for about two more months after receiving a roughly 30-day credit for the time he has been detained while awaiting a sentence.

Prosecutors recommended a four-month prison stint for Giustino. They had initially requested a 21-day sentence but pursued a longer term of incarceration after the massage therapist defiantly disrupted a June 23 court hearing. During that proceeding, Giustino dubbed his case “an absolute clown show of a prosecution,” used language that appeared to reference the sovereign citizen extremist movement's believe that the U.S. government is illegitimate, and said, "Why don’t I issue a warrant for your arrest?" after the judge threatened to order one against him because of his courtroom conduct.

TheNewTonyBennett on November 22nd, 2023 at 22:39 UTC »

This dude believes in the "Sovereign Citizen" movement and literally told the judge:

"I should get a warrant for YOUR arrest!"

Sovereign Citizens: Trying their hardest to get all the correct words in all the correct places in each sentence as though they are trying to be Harry fucking Potter.

llahlahkje on November 22nd, 2023 at 20:02 UTC »

Bit of a clickbait headline with "quadrupled" -- it's true, but it makes it sound more severe than it is: 21 days "quadrupled" to 3 months (the prosecution was asking for 4 months).

I find myself curious, though: The terrorist is a sovereign citizen clown that believes the US government is illegitimate, but participated in an attempt to overthrow it. Would he still claim to be a sovereign citizen if his insurrection succeeded? There's a whole lot of stupid to unpack here.

Anyway! To top it off, during the sentencing proceeding he called his case “an absolute clown show of a prosecution” -- he's damn lucky he didn't get contempt of court charges. If he was a POC I'd bet he would've.

That said: Neither 21 days nor 3 months, or even the 4 months the prosecution was asking for, would result in any changes in this terrorist's mindset.

These people need cult deprogramming as well as prison.

dgdio on November 22nd, 2023 at 19:55 UTC »

Remember after the new footage is released, look for not yet unidentified insurgents.