A Rhode Island man involved in the January 6 attack on the U.S.
Capitol is seeking probation, claiming he was misled about the 2020 presidential election, according to court documents.
Bernard Joseph Sirr, 47, is scheduled to be sentenced next week, and his lawyers are requesting three years of probation instead of prison time.
However, federal prosecutors are pushing for a 10-month prison sentence.
Sirr pleaded guilty for his role in the violent insurrection and his attorneys stated in a court filing that he was fed lies and falsehoods about the election, leading him to participate in the riot.
They also emphasized that Sirr’s love for his country was manipulated against him.
Despite being a military veteran, federal prosecutors argued that Sirr joined the Rhode Island chapter of the far-right group, the Proud Boys, a month before the attack.
They presented video evidence showing him pushing against Capitol Police officers and recording an officer being attacked.
The prosecution also included tweets posted by Sirr in the weeks leading up to January 6th, where he mentioned the tightening noose around traitors’ necks and called on the Supreme Court to overturn the election.
Prosecutors noted that Sirr disaffiliated from the Proud Boys after the Capitol incident.
Sirr’s sentencing memo included 15 letters of support, but he was fired from his job as an engineer at the Rhode Island company a month after his arrest.
The sentencing is set to take place next Thursday at 10 a.m.
in Washington, D.C.
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