Reagan-Appointed Judge Royce Lamberth Slams ‘Preposterous’ Claims By Republicans Calling Jan. 6 Capitol Rioters ‘Hostages’

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, said he is “shocked” that some Republican politicians are trying to rewrite history by labeling the January 6 Capitol rioters as “hostages.”

Lamberth’s statement was part of a ruling tied to the sentencing of James Little, a January 6 defendant who was convicted of misdemeanor offenses and has sought to argue that he had been politically prosecuted.

The court ordered that Little be committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for 150 days.

He had appealed, and the federal appeals court sent it back to Lamberth for resentencing despite the fact that the defendant already completed his incarceration.

“Mr. Little has consistently refused to take responsibility for his actions on January 6 – today is the first time he has come close to accepting responsibility,” Lamberth wrote in a ruling on January 26. “He has denied the gravity of what happened that day and the legitimacy of bringing the criminal justice system to bear on those who participated. He says he has been persecuted, condemned to ‘political prison’ for having peacefully protested in the Capitol.”

“The Court is accustomed to defendants who refuse to accept that they did anything wrong,” he then stated. “But in my thirty-seven years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream. I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness.”

“I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages,'” he declared. “That is all preposterous. But the Court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.”

“The Court cannot condone the shameless attempts by Mr. Little or anyone else to misinterpret or misrepresent what happened,” the judge added. “It cannot condone the notion that those who broke the law on January 6 did nothing wrong, or that those duly convicted with all the safeguards of the United States Constitution, including a right to trial by jury in felony cases, are political prisoners or hostages.”

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to these defendants as “hostages.” Other Trump allies, like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York), have repeated the same language.

“The J6 hostages, I call them,” Trump said at a rally on January 5. “Nobody has been treated ever in history so badly as those people nobody’s ever been treated in our country.”

Trump said that he would grant clemency to most of them if he is reelected.

Lamberth also replied to Little’s argument regarding his freedom of speech.

“Let me add one more thing,” he stated. “According to the defendant, the criminal justice system has denied him his freedom of speech. Of course, Mr. Little has a right under the First Amendment to believe that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. He has a right to express that view today, and he had a right to do so on January 6 as well. He even has a right to argue that this was a politically motivated prosecution.

“But the First Amendment does not give anyone the right to enter a restricted area or to engage in riotous activity in the Capitol,” Lamberth went on to say. “In resentencing Mr. Little on the count to which he pleaded guilty, the Court is not suppressing his constitutional right to freedom of expression. For Mr. Little to style himself a political prisoner and to accuse the Court of infringing his rights is not only incorrect, it is offensive to the Court. The public should understand that such notions are preposterous.”

“This is a matter of right and wrong,” the judge claimed. “Little cannot bring himself to admit that he did the wrong thing, although he came close today. So, it is up to the Court to tell the public the truth: Mr. Little’s actions, and the actions of others who broke the law on January 6 were wrong. The Court does not expect its remarks to fully stem the tide of falsehoods. But I hope a little truth will go a long way.”

Lamberth also had to sentence Phillip Grillo, a congressional candidate who, on December 5, 2023, was found guilty of five charges and one felony by a federal jury in Washington, D.C.

He was convicted for obstructing an official proceeding, committing misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, expressing disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, while also parading, demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building.

Back during early January, Judge Lamberth sentenced Florida Proud Boys member Chris Worrell to ten years in prison for assaulting police officers during the Capitol riot.

Worrell was found guilty by Lamberth for charges like civil disorder, assault, resistance and obstruction of officers using a dangerous weapon, in addition to physical violence and other offenses.

On top of this, the judge put Worrell on three years of supervised release, which included restitution of $2,000 and a $610 special assessment.