(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Last November, left-wing activist John Sullivan was convicted for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, Captiol Hill uprising—an event to which Sullivan brought a knife and encouraged protestors to act violently. He’s set to be sentenced Friday.
Since his conviction, Sullivan—the man who filmed the shooting of Ashli Babbitt—has been in solitary confinement. While the DC gulag has a unit specifically for J6ers, the government has expressed concern that Sullivan would be harmed if he was sent there.
But according to Sullivan’s attorney, the last six months of solitary confinement has taken a mental and physical toll on his client.
“John Sullivan has had an awful experience while in custody at the D.C. Jail since the date of his convictions. … He is considered to be politically opposed to other January 6 defendants and the D.C. Jail made a decision to have him segregated from other January 6 defendants. Mr. Sullivan has been held in protective custody and in virtual isolation throughout the duration of his incarceration,” said his lawyer, Steven Kiersh, in a sentencing memorandum last Friday.
“Counsel meets with defendant regularly at the D.C. Jail and has seen a dramatic decrease in his mental stability and his overall physical presence.”
Citing those factors as well as Sullivan’s prior clean record, attorney Kiersh asked the presiding judge to sentence his client to 30 months imprisonment with credit for time served. He also asked for Sullivan to serve that time in a law-security prison in his home state of Utah, where there are no federal facilities.
The Justice Department, however, is seeking 87 months of incarceration, 3 years of supervised release, and a fine in the amount of $90,875. In their sentencing memorandum Friday, prosecutors cited Sullivan’s egregious activities on Jan. 6 and his record as a provocateur.
Sullivan brought to the Capitol a retractable knife with an almost four inch blade, which—during two of the most serious inflection points of January 6, 2021—he offered up to rioters at the House Main Door and the Speaker’s Lobby Door,” the DOJ said.
“Earlier in the day, Sullivan, a self-proclaimed ‘activist’ from Utah, joined the growing crowd on the West Plaza of the Capitol. Sullivan encouraged violence stating, ‘we’re taking this shit to the ground’, ‘burn this shit down,’ and ‘let’s fuck this shit up.’”
Sullivan is scheduled for sentencing Friday at 2:30 p.m. on Friday before Judge Royce C. Lamberth.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
