Steve Bannon didn’t go directly to jail today, unfortunately — he was sentenced to four months for contempt of Congress, but he’s free on appeal to run his mouth on podcasts and prepare for another run at overturning our democracy (and potentially another pardon). That pisses me off.
However, one of the foot soldiers got hard time today. From NBC News:
WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump supporter who brought two guns to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and dropped one of them on Capitol grounds, was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Friday.
Mark Mazza was sentenced to 60 months behind bars by Judge James E. Boasberg. Before he was sentenced, Mazza told the court he got “caught up in a mob mentality that I never anticipated” and that he was “not quite the monster that the prosecution has described me as.”
Federal prosecutors said that Mazza, “while armed with [a] .40 caliber loaded firearm, engaged in multiple efforts to break through the police line: he repeatedly pushed against officers using the combined physical exertion of the mob; he armed himself with a stolen police baton and assaulted officers with the baton; he yelled at officers telling them to get out the mob’s way and to ‘Get out of our house!’; he held open the door to the tunnel entrance against the resistance of officers, and after being rebuffed, he gathered additional rioters into the tunnel area to continue ‘heave-ho’ pushes against officers in the doorway.”
A .40 caliber gun is no joke, and neither is five years in the pokey. This goon was armed with TWO guns, one of which he dropped and filed a false report stating it was stolen.
Mazza said he regretted coming to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“I wish I could erase it. I wish I could go back and take that hour back” and maybe go to a museum and grab some dinner, he said. He said he felt bad for his children and hoped that his parents won’t die before he gets out of federal prison.
I feel bad for his children too because their father is a violent dope, and I hope his parents don’t die of shame from raising such an idiot. The judge did note that Mazza stopped some of his fellow travelers from further mauling Officer Fanone, so Mazza isn’t the “worst of the worst,” I guess. Maybe he’ll take up productive hobby in the hoosegow and learn from his mistakes.
Open thread.
trollhattan
Stolen by gravity. Why does gravity hate America?
Goodbye for now, trash.
zhena gogolia
Let’s remember what Officer Fanone himself said (I may be paraphrasing), “Thank you, I guess, but fuck you for being there.”
zhena gogolia
I remembered “I guess,” but that is just in his intonation when he says “thank you”
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: I think I read somewhere that Fanone wrote a book? I’m tempted to read it. He voted for Trump, which he regrets now, of course.
eclare
@zhena gogolia: Fanone has NFLTG at this point.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: Yes, he did write a book. I have bought so many political books that I am never going to read, just to support the authors. The only one I could read was Mary Trump because it was more of a family psychological study.
eclare
@Betty Cracker: IIRC Fanone said he voted for TFG because he thought TFG would be better for police. He has learned a hard lesson.
raven
It doesn’t make any difference what caliber it is, any gun is no joke.
Scout211
@Betty Cracker:
Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop’s Battle for America’s Soul by Michael Fanone
eclare
Glad to see the violent traitor got five years, I guess. Seems like so many are getting such short sentences.
The Moar You Know
If this mook was my kid he’d have been disowned by now.
Origuy
This is the 56th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, when a mountain of coal tailings slid into a small Welsh village, engulfing a school and killing 116 children and 28 adults.
Baud
@Origuy: Wow. We sometimes delude ourselves into thinking everything was better in the past, I think.
The Moar You Know
@raven: a common piece of gun folklore, which I am pretty sure is not true, is that the .22LR, which is a tiny bullet, you wouldn’t think it could do anything, has killed more people than any other round in history.
I would absolutely believe that bit of folklore if it excepted wartime deaths, however.
James Brady ended up in a wheelchair, fucked up beyond belief, from just one of them.
RedDirtGirl
@Origuy: I learned about that from watching The Crown.
rikyrah
I get tired of people trying to paint a sympathetic portrait for these traitors.
I will never
and I do mean never ever
Will forget that these traitorous muthaphuckas were allowed to just go home on 1/6
Instead of being led to paddy wagons.
NEVER. will I forget.
Suzanne
I got polled this afternoon by Public Policy Polling. With luck, it reveals that we are not alone!
Sure Lurkalot
Add me to the list of pissed off people who doesn’t understand why justice for horrible people like Jones and Bannon gets delayed and delayed, allowing them to continue to poison society in a very public square. At the very least, take the damn microphone away.
Captain C
With any luck, the DTs will take care of Bannon while he’s locked up. If not, the other prisoners may eventually raise some objections to his determined lack of personal hygiene.
JaySinWA
Not quite the usual “Drop piece” experience.
raven
@The Moar You Know: Dead is dead and permanently disabled is. . .permanent folklore be damned.
raven
@Captain C: They’ll protect the shit out of him in the joint.
Suzanne
@Captain C: So I try not to look at my face with those illuminated makeup mirrors. Every little flaw, hair, scar, pimple, whatever, looks terrifying with those damn things. Steve Bannon at actual size and under normal lighting conditions looks like my skin looks under a magnifying mirror. HORRIFYING.
Doug R
@eclare:
Thousands to run through, get the lower ones to talk for lighter sentences, saves time and sentence room for the ring leaders.
Also harder to lose on appeal.
ian
@trollhattan:
Gravity doesn’t hate Americans, they just have more mass so it acts upon them faster.
Gin & Tonic
@ian: We can all go home now. This is the perfect comment.
Cameron
@Origuy: Damn. I remember when that happened.
NorthLeft
Up here in Canada we are still sorting through the pro-COVID nut jobs who terrorized Ottawa, blockaded the Detroit – Windsor bridge, and a crossing in Alberta too. The Alberta whack jobs were planning on killing RCMP officers but were infiltrated by two female RCMP officers.
It was just revealed that one of the ringleaders had three books in his pick-up; two on how to kill people, and the third was titled “The CIA Handbook on Trickery and Deception”.
I am guessing that he did not have a chance to read the last one.
You just can’t make this shit up.
gene108
Glad it’s been officially documented some insurrectionists in the Capitol were carrying firearms.
The right-wing wants to use the early notion DC’s gun laws kept all insurrectionists from carrying as an excuse to downplay the violence.
dmsilev
@Suzanne: The Onion isn’t quite as funny as it used to be (partially because reality is obsoleting satire), but they absolutely nailed Bannon when they described him as “Trump’s Most Encrusted Advisor”.
Baud
Suzanne
@dmsilev: Steve Bannon looks like he is trying to make leprosy happen.
J R in WV
@The Moar You Know:
I have read that most mob hits are done with .22 pistols. They are fairly quiet compared to bigger rounds, and so less inclined to draw a crowd in most cases, but obviously can do the job with just a couple of rounds.
We had one of those killings here in Charleston, WV some years back. The subject of the hit was a VP of one of the biggest banks in the state, back before the nation-wide banks took over state-wide banks. Turned out so many people hated him for his sexual harassment habits, raping employees, etc, the cops couldn’t tell who wanted him dead most. The hit man got away clean, outside a steak house on the south side of the river.
One of my best friends gave me a couple of nice .22 pistols that were his dad’s. The guns were really slick after he was through working on them!
I was pallbearer for his dad, who died of lung cancer after decades of smoking. He was a mechanic who enjoyed working on guns, and did fine work.
Suzanne
OTOH, in case you do not do this:
1) Get some coconut oil and sugar
2) Mix them together so you have a gritty consistency
3) Feel free to add drops of essential oil or cooking extract for a nice fragrance
4) Rub this on your whole self in the shower and rinse off
5) Don’t be ashy or crusty.
kalakal
@Origuy: I remember that, those kids were my age.
kalakal
@Suzanne: Heh, he’ll be unrecognizable after they scrape a few layers of clothing off, scrub him down.
He’s going to have a serious alcohol withdrawal problem I think.
Suzanne
@kalakal: In prison, they make booze out of piss. He’ll be FIIIIIINE.
One of the funnier compliments-that-is-really-an-insult is when Andre Leon Talley described Melania as “very moisturized”. If only she had taught Bannon something.
Though I must admit, I cannot get Mr. Suzanne to moisturize or use retinol daily. MEN. Care for your skin! Do not look like Steve Bannon!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@kalakal:
Wouldn’t he be treated in prison for any DTs if that were the case?
The Golux
@The Moar You Know:
Bobby Kennedy.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: The Crown had a very good episode on it. I had forgotten it, although it was a big deal at the time.
Geminid
@Baud: Deficit cuts are kind of political orphans now. Republicans will ignore them. Many Democrats will give them the side eye, I think because shrinking the deficit is associated with austerity. But these deficit reductions stem from the Democrats’ successful “trickle up” economic policies.
So I say, talk this deficit reduction up! It will mean something at least to Independents. Many of these may be in the much-disparaged “Socially Liberal, Fiscally Conservative” cohort, but they vote.
kalakal
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I would think so. I imagine it’s not an enjoyable experience
Ruckus
@raven:
Thank you.
I’ll add, it doesn’t matter the caliber at close range, anything with gunpowder behind a bullet will work close up if it hits you.
Ruckus
@kalakal:
I imagine unless he needed actual medical care during the DTs that they’d just let him go through them. I doubt prison folk really give a damn about his health, especially with a self induced problem like being a drunk, he’ll get over it. One way or another.
Lulymay
@raven:
@The Moar You Know: And if the Cons, (sorry, Repugs – I’m from north of the 49th) get enough people elected then this joker will be be out of the crowbar motel before Christmas.
Josie
@Betty Cracker:
I don’t normally buy political books, since I’m on a limited budget. I did buy Officer Fanone’s book mainly to support him. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the views of a street level policeman who is smart and empathetic.
The Pale Scot
Why is the leave a comment pane 2 inches wide? Makes it hard to proofread. I sound foolish enough with out being able to check my writing
schrodingers_cat
Snooze Hour is salivating at the prospect of Rs taking back the Congress. Judy was giddy with happiness at this prospect
They were discussing the NYT poll that was not good for the Ds. What value do these people add. Random people of the street can provide better analyses than these Republican stooges.
Gretchen
@Betty Cracker: Yes, Fanone’s book came out this week. It’s really well written, which I wasn’t expecting. I thought it would be just about Jan 6, but he starts with his years as a vice cop and his motivations for doing the work. Recommended.