Social media figure gets home detention in Capitol riot case

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and JAKE BLEIBERG
Associated Press

A pro-Trump social media influencer who posted video of himself at the U.S. Capitol during last year’s riot has been sentenced to three months of home detention. The federal judge who sentenced 45-year-old Brandon Straka on Monday said she was disturbed that the Nebraska native used his social media influence to encourage and defend the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Prosecutors say Straka abused his online platform to stir up the mob, encourage others to storm the Capitol and to take a protective shield from a police officer. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich also sentenced Straka to three years of probation and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine.