Today is the sentencing day for MAGA rioter Thomas Sibick (37), who pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting, and impeding police during the attempted overthrow of the United States government on January 6, 2021.
Sibick's lawyer told the judge to go easy on his client because he had only been trying to "help" former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone. In fact, Sibick stole Fanone's badge and radio.
According to Raw Story, the judge in the case stopped the lawyer right there:
As reported by CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, the attorney representing the 37-year-old Sibick on Friday tried to convince Judge Jackson that he got caught up in "commotion" during the riot and was actually trying to "help" former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, whose badge and radio he stole.
At this point, recounts MacFarlane, Judge Jackson stepped in to shut down the attorney's argument.
"But he pleaded guilty [to] assaulting, resisting, impeding police," she said incredulously. "He didn't plead guilty to trying to help!"
Fanone was also in court today and had this to say: "Mr. Sibick, in an act of cowardice, stripped me of my badge, the emblem of my duty. My radio is my lifeline. It was all I had in those moments to call for help. It was taken to be used as a trophy!"
Here's Wikipedia's account of what happened to Officer Fanone that day: he was "dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, sprayed with chemical irritants, and threatened with his own gun. Fanone suffered burns, a heart attack, traumatic brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result."
Fanone is despised by the GOP for attempting to protect the Capitol instead of allowing insurrectionists to execute Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi in order to install election loser Donald Trump as dictator. Rep. Andrew "normal tourist" Clyde refused to shake Fanone's hand when Fanone spoke to Congress after the attack.
