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Air Force Vet and Friend Sentenced to 45 Days for Breaching Capitol on Jan 6th

BY September 30, 2021

An Air Force veteran who posted a photograph of a door next to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s conference room with the caption “We’re in” will spend 45 days behind bars for his conduct on January 6th, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

Derek Jancart brought a gas mask and two-way radio to the U.S. Capitol, though he did not use the mask. Jancart’s co-defendant Erik Rau received an identical sentence in proceedings that immediately followed. Neither faced accusations of violence or property damage.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 6: Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. (photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

On July 23, Jancart and Rau pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. Their respective plea agreements note the charge carries a maximum six-month sentence, but prosecutors requested four-month terms for both earlier this month. Their statements of offense admitting to their conduct describe the chaotic scene in which they participated during the siege.

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee, acknowledged that the sentence might strike many as light, but added that even a day in a federal correctional center is not “pleasant” during his comments at the sentencing. “I greatly respect your military service on behalf of this country, particularly in Afghanistan,” Boasberg said to Jancart.

Prosecutors say that Rau wore tactical pants and a hat that said “I lubricate my guns with liberal tears.” According to the statement of offense, others in the frame could be heard shouting “get him!” and “traitors gonna hang!” Rau was also quoted as screaming: “Yeah! They just pushed through the guards!”

Jancart claimed that he did not destroy anything inside the building and urged others not to, as well. “I do apologize for my individual actions that day,” Jancart said. “I did get caught up in the moment.”

After rioters broke through the police line and rushed up the stairs of the U.S. Capitol, Rau videotaped that moment and said on the video: “We made it up to the Capitol. … We have the police surrounded! We have you surrounded!” Rau and Jancart entered the Capitol Building through the Senate Door and traveled through the Crypt.

The pair admittedly took the stairwell south of the Crypt to the second floor of the Capitol and walked towards the Speaker’s conference room. Rau concedes going inside that room while Jancart stayed outside to snap a photograph boasting about the breach that he posted on Facebook.

“During a voluntary proffer with the government, Rau admitted to hearing rioters in the Speaker’s conference room discussing breaking into glass cabinets and taking everything in it and hearing a rioter screaming to ‘shit on her desk,’” Rau’s sentencing memo states. Jancart also posted a video on Facebook of Rau making those comments. “It really is a chilling, chilling incitement of violence,” the prosecutor told the judge.

 

“I have great reverence for the history of this country,” Jancart said. “I love this country.”

 

 



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