Mitchell Todd Gardner II, a rioter at the Capitol on January 6, was homeless, voted for Obama twice, and did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016. No one said who he voted for in 2016 or 2020, which is odd. Gardner thought Trump’s candidacy and election were a joke.
- Allegedly, he suddenly came to believe the election was stolen based on Donald Trump’s words – Trump being the man he didn’t vote for and whose candidacy he thought was a joke.
- We don’t know if this is the case with Gardner, but left-wing lawyers had told clients to blame Trump’s verbal ‘incitement’ as a defense.
- Gardner incited violence, was targeted by the DOJ as a ringleader, and changed his clothes once inside the Capitol.
- Attorneys argued on his behalf that – as an excuse for his behavior – he grew up in a red state.
- A judge sentenced Mitchell Todd Gardner to 55 months in federal prison for his role in January 6.
- Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Mitchell Todd Gardner II, 34, of Seffner, Florida, to 55 months in federal prison on Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
NEWS REPORTS
According to Local 10 News, Mitchell Todd Gardner II, 34, of Seffner, Florida, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in the District of Columbia, according to court records. He pleaded guilty last year to civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon.
The DOJ report is available here. Court listener documents are available here.
According to Tampa Bay Times:
“the prosecutor described him as having taken a “de facto leadership role” in the riots. He was seen on a ledge outside the Senate portion of the building, using a red canister in a black case to break a window, according to a statement of facts that accompanied a criminal complaint. He then entered the building and gestured for others to join him. Gardner was also seen spraying an unknown liquid from the canister at Capitol police officers, the complaint states.”
Raw Story reports that he was separating from the wife he just married and was couch surfing at peoples’ homes.
According to Tampa NPR:
He didn’t have a set home address but spent time in Seffner. In the last few weeks before his arrest, federal agents have been covertly watching Gardner’s activities. They noted that he hasn’t visited his Seffner home since early May and that he took two out-of-town trips in June — one to California and one to Ohio. He had a one-way plane ticket to California when he was arrested Friday at Tampa International Airport, the government said
Gardner also urged other rioters to use a ladder to break into a window, prosecutors said. When the ladder was not used, Gardner stood on a window ledge outside of a Senate terrace room and damaged the window with the pepper spray device.
While inside the Capitol, Gardner waved people in and handed someone what looked like part of a table so he could hit the police.
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Gardner is pictured on film attempting to break an outside window near the West Terrace of the Capitol.
He enters through the broken window, changes clothes, puts on a Trump hat, and urges others to come in. He is later seen spraying a liquid at police in the Lower West Tunnel from a distance.
Yahoo News reports:
Attorneys for Gardner argued in a sentencing memorandum filed on March 3 that he grew up in a red state, which explains the “huge discrepancy between his life and nonviolent choices otherwise, and his behavior the day of January 6.” Gardner’s attorneys said he voted for Obama “both times” and “did not vote for Donald Trump when he ran for office.”
It’s unclear if Gardner voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Farheena Siddiqui, Gardner’s attorney, did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment on Sunday.
“He believed President Trump’s candidacy to be a joke, a publicity event for a celebrity,” the sentencing memorandum states.
After President Joe Biden was announced as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Trump’s misinformation caused Gardner to believe “that the election had been stolen and the way of life in America was about to change,” the document says.
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