Air Force sergeant denies new charges

SPOKANE, Wash. — An Air Force staff sergeant facing allegations of making violent, anti-government statements online before stealing ammunition from Fairchild Air Force Base has pleaded innocent to additional crimes in federal court in Spokane.

John Sanger, 30, is one of six service members named in an indictment handed down this week by a federal grand jury, charging them with crimes including theft of government property, possession of stolen ammunition and possession of an unregistered firearm.

The Spokesman-Review reported that authorities were alerted to Sanger by social media posts he allegedly made between the 2020 election and the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The poster, using the moniker “problematicpatriot,” expressed the belief that the election system had been “defrauded” and “people have to die.”

Sanger appeared in court Thursday to answer the new charges, with a potential penalty of up to a decade in federal prison. He waived his right to a hearing to argue for release pending trial and was returned to the Spokane County jail.