Capitol rioter gets jail time after judge says 'a slap on the wrist' won't do


Matthew Mazzocco, a Texas man convicted of illegally demonstrating at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, is the first rioter to receive a jail term when prosecutors did not ask for one, The Washington Post reports.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on Monday said the "country is watching to see what the consequences are for something that has not ever happened in this country before, for actions and crimes that undermine the rule of law and our democracy," and if Mazzocco walked away with "probation and a slap on the wrist, that's not going to deter anyone from trying what he did again." Chutkan sentenced Mazzocco to 45 days in jail and 60 hours of community service and ordered him to pay $500 in restitution for damage done to the Capitol building during the riot.
Court records say Mazzocco, 38, posted online photos he took at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and parents involved in the same San Antonio youth sports league turned him into the FBI. He was arrested on Jan. 17 and fired from his job as a loan officer. In July, Mazzocco pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and prosecutors recommended he serve three months of home confinement.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Chutkan noted that Mazzocco was inside the Capitol for 12 minutes and did not personally cause any damage, but "his presence was part of the mob. The mob isn't the mob without the number. People committed those violence acts because they had the safety of numbers."
Before he was sentenced, Mazzocco told the court he is "truly sorry for my actions that day. It has truly taken a toll on me. I'm not just saying that because I want to get off. I know I made a big mistake. I want to apologize to the country, to you, and to the police officers. ... I'm just very sorry."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
A running list of all the celebrities Trump has pardoned
IN DEPTH Reality stars, rappers and disgraced politicians have received some of the high-profile pardons doled out by the president
-
'The pattern is similar across America'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
What's next for Elon Musk?
Today's Big Question The world's richest man has become 'disillusioned' with politics – but returning to his tech empire presents its own challenges
-
Trump's super-charged pardon push raises eyebrows and concerns
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Never shy about using his pardon ability for political leverage, Trump's spate of amnesty announcements suggests the White House is taking things to a new level
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies