Woman sentenced for death threats mid-riot
A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Tuesday to more than two years in prison.
Pauline Bauer was near Pelosi’s office suite Jan. 6, 2021, when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.
In January, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden convicted Bauer of riot-related charges after hearing trial testimony without a jury. The judge sentenced her to two years and three months of imprisonment, giving her credit for the several months she already has served in jail, court records show.
Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of 6½ years for Bauer, 55, of Kane, Pa.
Bauer was part of the mob that forced police officers on the East Plaza to retreat. After forcing her way into the Capitol, she accosted officers who were trying to secure the Rotunda, shoving one of them, and yelled at police to “bring them out or we’re coming in,” according to federal prosecutors.
“They’re criminals. They need to hang,” she screamed. “Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang [her]. Bring her out.”
“Bauer’s threat to hang Speaker Pelosi was real, imminent, and placed the Speaker of the House in danger,” prosecutor James Peterson wrote in a court filing.
Bauer traveled from her north Pennsylvania home to attend then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally Jan. 6 in Washington.
She came to Washington with at least five other people who have been charged in the Capitol riot, including co-defendant William Blauser, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Last year, McFadden ordered Blauser to pay a $500 fine.
Defense attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said Bauer never intended to interfere with the process of certifying the Electoral College vote. She “genuinely regrets her past actions,” her lawyer said.
“The international spotlight showcasing her at her worst has deeply affected her,” Maknoon wrote.
Prosecutors said Bauer has used “sovereign citizen” extremist rhetoric and filed “nonsense” court documents while defending herself, prosecutors said.
More than a year before the trial, McFadden ordered Bauer to be jailed for violating conditions of her release. She had claimed the court has no authority over her and told the judge that she doesn’t want “any lawyering from the bench.”
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct Jan. 6. More than 500 of them have been sentenced, with over half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from one week to 18 years.