An Ohio pastor who authorities say used a bullhorn to incite the Jan. 6, 2021, mob on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Thursday after being discovered responsible of a number of offenses.
William Dunfee, 59, was sentenced to 2 and a half years in jail and three years of supervised launch, in line with the Division of Justice (DOJ), which added that he was ordered to pay a $10,000 high-quality and $2,000 restitution.
“His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election,” the DOJ mentioned in a press release.
Dunfee was convicted in January of two felony fees — obstruction of an official continuing or aiding and abetting, and civil dysfunction — and one misdemeanor of getting into and remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds.
In accordance with authorities, court docket paperwork confirmed that Dunfee posted a video to social media in December 2020 telling his congregation in Warsaw, Ohio, that “The Government, the tyrants, the socialists, the Marxists, the progressives, the RINOs, they fear you. And they should. Our problem is we haven’t given them reason to fear us.”
“January 4th through 6th … Are you ready?” he added.
The division additionally mentioned Dunfee illegally entered Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 and used a bullhorn to exhort the group. In a separate video on the Capitol, Dunfee allegedly tells the mob that the election “has been stolen.”
“This election has been stolen proper out from beneath of our noses, and it’s time for the American folks to stand up. Stand up. Stand up. Right this moment is the day by which it’s that these elected officers notice that we’re now not enjoying video games. That we aren’t sheeple which might be simply going to be corralled in line with their whims and their wills,” Dunfee mentioned within the video filmed on the Capitol, the DOJ mentioned.
It additionally famous that Dunfee pushed in opposition to a steel barricade in opposition to U.S. Capitol Law enforcement officials, including that surveillance cameras captured Dunfee pushing in opposition to the barricade and getting into restricted areas of Capitol grounds on Jan. 6.
For the reason that Jan. 6 riot, greater than 1,500 folks have been charged in relation to the breach and greater than 500 people have been charged with the felony of assaulting or impeding regulation enforcement, federal authorities famous.
In June, The Supreme Courtroom dominated that an obstruction regulation used to cost scores of Jan. 6 rioters and former President Trump was improperly utilized, permitting for the opportunity of sentence reductions associated to their circumstances.
