Man who stood in Senate chamber with Trump flag faces first felony sentencing over Capitol riot

‘Whatever punishment this court may provide will pale in comparison to the scarlet letter Mr Hodgkins will wear for the rest of his life,’ lawyer argues

A man who stood in the US Senate chamber with a Trump flag during the Capitol riot is set to become the first member of the MAGA mob to be sentenced for a felony related to the insurrection.

The hearing could set a benchmark for similar cases stemming from the insurrection.

Prosecutors are arguing that 38-year-old Paul Allard Hodgkins should spend 18 months in prison, writing in a recent legal filing that he “like each rioter, contributed to the collective threat to democracy” by forcing Congress to postpone their certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, sending lawmakers running for cover to avoid the violent mob.

Video footage from 6 January shows Hodgkins wearing a Trump 2020 T-shirt inside the senate chamber, carrying a Trump flag with eye goggles hanging around his neck.

He took a selfie with the so-called QAnon-shaman, who entered the Capitol wearing a horned helmet, as well as other rioters on the dais in the chamber.

Hodgkins’ Monday sentencing in DC could help other rioters decide whether to go to trial or accept a plea deal.

Like many other rioters, Hodgkins stands accused of serious crimes but has not been indicted, as some have been, for having been a part of bigger conspiracies.

Last month, Hodgkins pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding.

His attorney asked US District Judge Randolph Moss not to give Hodgkins a prison term, arguing that the shame will be connected to his client for the rest of his life and that it should be included in the punishment consideration.

“Whatever punishment this court may provide will pale in comparison to the scarlet letter Mr Hodgkins will wear for the rest of his life,” lawyer Patrick Leduc argued in a recent legal filing.

He was referencing a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne in which a woman accused of adultery has to wear the letter “A”.

Anna Morgan Lloyd, 49, was the first to be sentenced out of the around 500 people who have been arrested in the wake of the riot. The woman from Indiana pleaded guilty to misdemeanour disorderly conduct and was sentenced to three years probation.

The filing by Hodgkins’ lawyer argued that his actions were not that different from that of Lloyd, except that Hodgkins walked onto the floor of the Senate.

He hasn’t been accused of assault or of doing any property damage.

Prosecutors have also acknowledged that he’s deserving of some leniency because he quickly took responsibility for his actions – pleading guilty to the charge of obstruction, which has a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

But Hodgkins getting on a bus in Tampa heading for the 6 January Trump rally in DC carrying a backpack with rope, goggles and latex gloves, have been noted as damning by prosecutors. They argue he came to DC prepared to take part in violent actions.

Prosecutors said he walked through the grounds of the Capitol on 6 January, an area already covered in downed barriers and broken windows. He walked past police officers and injured people as the crowd pushed on towards the Capitol, prosecutors noted.

“Time and time again, rather than turn around and retreat, Hodgkins pressed forward,” the legal filing from the government said.

Mr Leduc said that Hodgkins was someone who, apart from 6 January, followed the law, living in a poorer part of Tampa and volunteering at a food bank, with a past as an Eagle Scout.

The attorney said Hodgkins’ behaviour on 6 January “is the story of a man who for just one hour on one day lost his bearings... who made a fateful decision to follow the crowd”.

Mr Leduc filed a 33-page document ahead of the sentencing, including several pages about the Civil War, citing Abraham Lincoln calling for reconciliation in the weeks before he was assassinated.

“The court has a chance to emulate Lincoln,” Mr Leduc wrote in the filing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.