After the pro Trump mob’s attack Jan. 6, 2021, the viral image of Adam Johnson waving and smiling as he carried Pelosi’s podium became viral. According to prosecutors, Johnson placed the podium in central part of the Capitol Rotunda and pretended to give a speech.
Johnson claimed that he had “broke the internet” after driving home. Prosecutors said Johnson then boasted about being “finally famous”. They claimed that Johnson’s actions at Capitol “illustrate his entitlement and privilege.”
“The now-viral podium picture portrays Johnson as confident and arguably gleeful while converting government property for his own use during an illegal siege,” a prosecutor wrote in a court filing.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Johnson for 75 days followed by one-year of supervised release. Johnson was also required to pay a $5,000 penalty and complete 200 hours of community service. Johnson will report at a time to be determined.
Johnson said to Walton that it was “very stupid” to pose with Pelosi on the podium.
Johnson stated, “I have no ill will towards her or her office at any time.”
Walton stated that America is on an unsafe path because many Americans believe they have the right to do anything to get the person they want in power at the White House.
The judge stated, “That’s what you see in banana republics.” “That’s exactly what we see in countries such as the one we are experiencing right now in Ukraine. If we don’t take action to stop it, that’s where we are headed. It’s a problem that I don’t know how to stop.
Prosecutors claimed that they were notified by Johnson during plea negotiations that he was planning to publish a memoir. The unusual provision in his plea agreement requires him to give up any compensation from any book script, song or interview bearing his name or likeness for up to five year.
Prosecutors recommended Johnson be sentenced to three months imprisonment, one-year supervised release, a $5,000 penalty and 60 hours community service. Johnson’s lawyers asked for one year probation with credit for the time he spent in prison after his arrest.
According to defense lawyers, Johnson did not know that the podium belonged t Pelosi when it was moved from a cloakroom.
They wrote in a court filing that “Arguably if he grabbed onto any other piece of furniture for his photo opportunity, jail time would not even consider”
Johnson was taken into custody two days after The deadly riot. In November, Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge of entering and remaining on a restricted ground or building. This misdemeanor can lead to up to one year imprisonment.
Johnson traveled with a friend from Tampa, Florida to Washington, D.C. to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally of then-President Donald Trump. When they discovered that the Capitol had been broken into, they ran to it. After being separated from his friend , Johnson climbed the scaffolding to reach the building.
He tried to open the door to a Pelosi-owned office, but it was locked.
“Just across the hallway, and only twelve minutes prior, several Speaker’s staffers had barred themselves in another office, terrified,” wrote a prosecutor.
Johnson watched as rioters tried to break down the House Chamber doors where fearful lawmakers were trapped . He shouted that a bust George Washington would make a “great battering ram”, prosecutors stated.
A prosecutor wrote, “Thankfully no one heeded him,”
Johnson, who is a stay at home father, has been married to a doctor for 11 years and has not had to work in the last 11 years. They claimed that Johnson and his wife could afford to hire someone to care for their five children, who are school-age, if he was jailed.
His lawyers stated that Johnson and his wife received death threats.
They wrote that Adam’s older friends and his wife’s financial practice had suffered financially, and they would no longer talk to Adam or his family.
More than 750 people were charged with federal crimes in connection to the riot. Over 200 people have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, mostly. More than 100 riot defendants were sentenced and over 80 others are scheduled for trial this year.
