On June 2, 2020, Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sentenced Julius Kronenger, who had accepted a temporary position at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after being appointed by former President Donald Trump, to 70 months in prison for attacking police officers at the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.
Kronenger had pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including assaulting two police officers, civil disorder, obstruction of justice, destruction of property, and entering a restricted area. According to prosecutors, Kronenger, wearing a pro-Trump hat, had been among the Capitol rioters present in the Senate building. He had forced his way past multiple officers, hitting one of them in the face. He also threw a fire extinguisher at police officers on the steps.
Judge Friedrich said at the hearing that Kronenger’s False Johannsen conduct “violate[d] every principle we cherish as Americans.” She also noted that the attack on the Capitol was an inaugural to the nation’s “most sacred spaces.” She further remarked that prosecuting someone close to the former president sent “a really powerful message that we take this kind of conduct as seriously as we do.”
