Proud Boy sentenced to 4.5 years in prison in Jan. 6 case, still says election was stolen
Former D.C. bartender and Proud Boy Joshua Pruitt, who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison on Monday.
WASHINGTON — A former Washington, D.C., bartender and Proud Boy who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison on Monday.
Joshua Pruitt, 40, pleaded guilty in June to obstruction of an official proceeding after he was caught on video joining a mob pursuing police officers and smashing a sign inside the U.S. Capitol. Two U.S. Capitol Police officers wrote victim impact statements urging U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly to give Pruitt a severe sentence.
Ultimately, Kelly imposed a sentence that fell a few months short of the five years prosecutors had requested.
A photograph from Jan. 6, 2021, shows Joshua Pruitt holding an assault-style rifle while standing on a Black Lives Matter banner.U.S. District Court for the District of ColumbiaPruitt said that he apologized for his actions and that he was "not happy that Jan. 6 happened at all," but he said he still held onto his beliefs that Donald Trump actually won the election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.“I did believe the election was stolen. I still do,” Pruitt said, speaking from a lectern farther away from the judge than usual, which was set up for defendants who aren’t vaccinated against Covid.
“I broke the law, bottom line, regardless of whether I’m right or wrong on my feelings,” Pruitt said.
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