A federal decide on Tuesday convicted a Pennsylvania restaurant proprietor of storming the U.S. Capitol, the place she screamed at cops to carry out then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi so the pro-Trump mob might grasp her.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden determined the case towards Pauline Bauer after listening to testimony and not using a jury. The decide convicted her of all 5 counts in her indictment, together with a felony cost that she obstructed the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress for certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, court docket information present.
Bauer’s bench trial began final Thursday. McFadden introduced the decision from the bench. The decide is scheduled to condemn her on May 1. McFadden agreed to let Bauer stay free on sure circumstances till her sentencing.
In September 2021, McFadden ordered Bauer to be jailed for violating circumstances of her pretrial launch. Bauer remained in custody for a number of months whereas awaiting a trial. The decide may give her credit score for the jail time that she already has served.
During her preliminary court docket appearances, Bauer expressed an ideology that appeared to comport with the “sovereign citizens” extremist motion’s perception that the U.S. authorities is illegitimate.
Bauer, 55, traveled from her residence in Kane, Pennsylvania, to listen to then-President Donald Trump converse to a crowd of his supporters on the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Bauer was a part of the gang that compelled Capitol cops to retreat up the steps in entrance of the East Rotunda doorways, prosecutors stated.
Bauer entered the Capitol with a good friend, William Blauser, and confronted cops defending an entrance to the Rotunda. She shouted at cops to “bring them out or we’re coming in,” in keeping with prosecutors.
“They’re criminals. They need to hang,” Bauer yelled.
Video from a police officer’s physique digital camera captured her profanely yelling on the officers to “bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang (her).”
She and Blauser left the Capitol about 38 minutes after they entered.
Bauer’s indictment charged her with a felony rely of obstructing an official continuing. She additionally was charged with 4 misdemeanors, together with coming into or remaining in a restricted constructing or grounds and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol constructing or grounds.
Approximately 950 folks have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Nearly 500 of them have pleaded responsible. Dozens of others have been convicted after trials determined by juries or judges.
The solely Capitol riot defendant to be acquitted of all expenses after a trial was a New Mexico man whose case additionally was determined by McFadden, a Trump nominee.
Bauer was arrested in May 2021 together with Blauser, who pleaded responsible to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol constructing. In February 2022, McFadden ordered Blauser to pay a $500 wonderful however didn’t sentence him to any time period of incarceration or probation.
During an interview after her arrest, Bauer acknowledged that her actions angered a few of her neighbors in Kane, a small city on the sting of the 517,000-acre Allegheny National Forest. But she insisted that her participation within the occasions of Jan. 6 hadn’t price her any friendships or harmed her enterprise.
“A lot of people say that they’re proud of me for standing up for my rights,” she instructed an Associated Press reporter throughout a break in dinner service at her restaurant, Bob’s Trading Post.
Bauer was combative with McFadden at pretrial hearings and claimed the court docket has no authority over her. Bauer has stated she is a “sovereign people,” not a sovereign citizen, and referred to herself as “Pauline from the House of Bauer.” She instructed the decide that she doesn’t need an lawyer to symbolize her “or any lawyering from the bench.”
“I do not recognize your bar card, sir,” she instructed McFadden, who appointed a lawyer to behave as her standby counsel.
Bauer grew to become a punchline for Stephen Colbert’s late-night speak present on CBS. The host mocked Bauer for claiming to be a “divinely empowered entity immune from laws.”
“Divinely empowered? So she’s going to get away scot-free, just like Jesus,” Colbert joked. “But it does raise the question: If you’re chosen by God to be above the laws of government, why do you care who’s in charge of it?”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”