Online threats draw longest term yet in Capitol riot probe

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press

A man who pleaded guilty to writing threatening social media posts in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol has been sentenced to 14 months in prison. It’s the longest term to date resulting from the federal investigation of the insurrection. But Troy Smocks of Dallas wasn’t accused of storming the building on Jan. 6. He is one of the few Black people among the 600-plus defendants so far, and he said at his sentencing hearing Thursday that his treatment had been unfair compared with others who did enter the Capitol. But the judge said she hadn’t seen a “scintilla of evidence” that prosecutions had been racially motivated and she noted that Smocks had expressed little remorse.