On Monday, a federal court in the United States sentenced 38-year-old Paul Hodgkins to eight months in prison for his role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6.
Hodgkins is the first of more than 535 Trump supporters arrested for the storming to be sent to prison. The prosecutor had demanded eighteen months.
In exchange for a reduced sentence, Hodgkins pleaded guilty in June to “obstructing official proceedings,” as the charges against him read. He disrupted the Senate session as it met to discuss the presidential election results, which then-President Donald Trump lost.
Hodgkins was seen on video footage in the Senate quarters, holding a red flag and wearing a T-shirt that reads ‘Trump 2020’. He also took a selfie with other rioters.
During the storming of the Capitol, Trump supporters fought police, damaged the building and threatened senators and other MPs. The purpose of the attack was to dissuade Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s election victory.