WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — A Proud Boys member and Jan. 6th rioter was sentenced to more than four years behind bars on Monday, which comes after two men received seven-year sentences for their roles in the insurrection earlier this year.
Joshua Pruitt, 40, who told the judge that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, was sentenced to 55 months in prison.
“The sentence is disproportionate to what other defendants who were involved in Jan. 6th actually received,” said Pruitt’s attorney Robert Jenkins. “I don’t think Mr. Pruitt intended to physically assault or attack any legislator.”
Leading up to the Capitol riot, Pruitt was part of a group chat with other Proud Boys members who were planning violence, with Pruitt’s he was “Battle ready.”
Videos and photos show Pruitt forcing his way into the Capitol and throwing wooden objects, and prosecutors said Pruitt came within feet of Senator Chuck Schumer.
Earlier in August, Thomas Robertson, a former Virginia police officer, and Guy Reffitt, who brought a gun into the Capitol and was turned in by his teenage son, were sentenced to seven years in prison.
“It’s political persecution. We are patriots, Guy was a patriot that day. He will always be a patriot,” said Reffitt’s wife Nicole.
According to the justice department, 860 people have been arrested in connection with the 2021 Capitol attack, and the investigation is ongoing.
