Judge sentences Oath Keeper who cooperated in January 6 prosecution to probation and warns democracy is ‘fragile’

(CNN) — Nearly four years after the US Capitol was overtaken by Donald Trump’s supporters, the first defendant in the January 6, 2021, attack to plead guilty to seditious conspiracy was sentenced Friday to three years of probation.

Joshua James, a military vet and a former leader in the right-wing Oath Keepers militia group, was part of the brutal assault on police that day, facing off with a line of officers inside the Rotunda, where he shouted, “This is my Capitol,” and demanded that officers leave as he pushed and shoved.

“What I did at the Capitol, to those police officers, that’s not who I am,” James told the judge before sentencing. James said he would regret that day “for the rest of my life.”

Federal Judge Amit Mehta, in an apparent reference to Trump’s promise to pardon some of the January 6 defendants, said he didn’t “know how long we’ll keep doing these sentencings in the next weeks and months,” and noted that it was important for people to not forget the lawmakers, staff and police officers who were there that day.

The attack, Mehta said, showed “how fragile democracy really is.”

In handing down his sentence, Mehta said James was not being sentenced merely for entering the Capitol or even assaulting officers but rather for taking part in an “agreement” among Oath Keepers “to turn against the democratic process.”

Six months of James’ probation will be served at a residential reentry facility and another six months on home confinement.

Prosecutors told Mehta, who oversaw several trials against members and leaders of the Oath Keepers, that James had cooperated extensively with the government, especially in the case against the leader of the group, Stewart Rhodes, who Mehta sentenced to 18 years in prison.

That cooperation “came at risk to him and his family,” prosecutor Troy Edwards said Friday during the sentencing, who added that people had threatened James and even showed up to his house. Edwards also noted how James was “triggered by his PTSD” during the riot and his actions were “not something that was calculated.”

James’ case showed “exactly why Mr. Rhodes was so dangerous,” Edwards said, because he took advantage of beleaguered veterans who were looking for a place to belong.

On the morning of the attack, James led a team of Oath Keepers to run security for Trump ally Roger Stone before heading to the Capitol and facing off with officers inside, only leaving after he was peppered sprayed, the judge said.

In explaining his sentencing, Mehta noted that during a tour in Iraq, James had been on a bridge that was blown up by an IED, which killed several of his comrades. James had to undergo several facial reconstruction surgeries and suffered brain trauma.

“Mr. James is a true American hero,” Mehta said, later praising James for “making amends for your actions and deciding to put your country back where it belonged.”

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