MAGA Troll Baked Alaska Pleads Guilty to Role in Capitol Riot
The far-right Neo-Nazi internet troll who calls himself “Baked Alaska” pleaded guilty to his actions after joining the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, where he streamed the live video which incriminated him and other rioters, according to a court filing.
Anthime Gionet, who worked at BuzzFeed before he used social media to build an online following in far-right political circles, faces a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment for the misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing inside a Capitol building.
Federal authorities have used Gionet’s video, which showed himself inside the Capitol building while repeatedly encouraging the other rioters to stay there, to prosecute other rioters, including three men from New York City. Antonio Ferrigno, Francis Connor, and Anton Lunyk all pleaded guilty in April to riot-related charges after Gionet’s Livestream showed them in Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office, according to the court filings that accompanied their plea agreements.
Neo-Nazi former and Buzzfeed journalist Anthime “Tim” Gionet known as Baked Alaska just pled guilty to joining the Capitol insurrection.
Just check out his lovely pro-police sentiments in this statement of offense.https://t.co/5eIqfhkM23 pic.twitter.com/4LhESrp16r
— Grant Stern is boosted! (@grantstern) July 22, 2022
Gionet’s defense attorney Zachary Thornley said Gionet “has long been a member of the press” and claimed he was only there to document it as a journalist. “His actions on the day many folks entered the Capitol were no less than he has always done. He filmed it. That is what he does,” Thornley wrote in a court filing last year.
NEW: Neo-Nazi livestreamer Anthime Gionet (aka "Baked Alaska") told his fans this weekend he plans to PLEAD GUILTY in his Jan. 6 case. He previously backed out of a plea deal, saying turning it down was "exactly what God wanted." But now the feds are giving him one more chance.
— Nick Martin (@nickmartin) July 11, 2022
But Gionet’s actions were not those of an impartial news reporter covering an event; he was an active participant in both promoting the January 6th riot and carrying it out. “Come in. Let’s go. Come on in. Make yourself at home,” Gionet told other rioters, according to a court filing accompanying his guilty plea. Gionet also joined others in chanting, “Patriots are in control!” and “Whose house? Our house!” Before leaving, he profanely called a police officer an “oathbreaker,” the FBI said.
Update:
Far-right livestreamer Anthime Gionet (aka "Baked Alaska") has pleaded GUILTY to Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building for his actions on Jan. 6.
This is a misdemeanor and his sentencing is set for Jan. 2023. https://t.co/oddElnljiD pic.twitter.com/2rBD5uK238
— Tom Dreisbach (@TomDreisbach) July 22, 2022
In January, Gionet was sentenced to 30 days in jail for misdemeanor convictions stemming from a December 2020 encounter in which authorities say he shot pepper spray at an employee at a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona. Gionet’s plea agreement includes a provision allowing investigators to review any of his social media accounts for posts around the time of the Capitol riot.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is scheduled to sentence Gionet on January 12, 2023. The judge had originaly scheduled a March 2023 trial for Gionet after he refused to plead guilty during an earlier hearing. Sullivan then refused to accept a guilty plea by Gionet in May after he professed his innocence at the start of what was scheduled to be a plea agreement hearing.
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