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I suspect a primary reason why Hale got punished so hard is that he was completely unsympathetic. If this was primarily politically driven, then I'd assume we'd see similar blood-thirsty retribution imposed upon the folks who were charged with just misdemeanor trespassing, but almost all of those just got probation and no jail. Hale embarrassed the establishment because he managed to get a security clearance and work at a naval weapons base while being a genuine and almost comical Nazi, so he had to be made an example of. I'm not saying this to claim the justice system had a good reason, but just describing the unfortunate reality of a heavy-handed system operated by heavy-handed humans. Here's the docket entry for his case if you're interested, and here's the sentencing memorandum filed by the government where they asked for 78 months.
Hale talked at length about wishing there was a civil war after J6 so that he could have a chance to arrest "the Jews" if they didn't immediately leave the country. Hale also testified in his own trial and tried to credulously claim he had no idea Congress was even in the Capitol that day. He was caught on video interfering with a police officer trying to arrest a rioter, but at trial he claimed he had no idea that was a cop. Both those factors and more slammed him head-first into the brickwall that is the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the government tried to argue various enhancements to put his offense score was 27, which put him within 70-87 months of prison. His aunt appears to have used Hale's notoriety and received at least $1M of donations under the name "Patriot Freedom Project" but seems to be hoarding the money since records are incomplete. Pg 42 of the brief also helpfully compares their requested sentence with what other J6 defendants got.
So he lied on the stand (badly), had grander motivations about violent revolution beyond just entering the building, and put a cop at risk by physically interfering in an arrest. I personally find his sentence to be egregiously high, but unfortunately it's well within the norm in a country known for eye-wateringly high prison sentences. If I was a criminal justice reform advocate that wanted to highlight an example from the J6 pool, Hale would be one of the last people I'd pick.
What would be the falsification to this belief?
The protestors who who attempted to disrupt the Kavanaugh hearings being arrested en masse and and spending months if not years in prison. A few Anti-fa types trying to break down the door of the Portland courthouse getting the Ashli Babbitt treatment. Someone, anyone involved in the whole CHAZ/CHOP debacle getting arrested and charged with insurrection
Thing is that, as others have pointed out, the double standard is plain to see. Furthermore the visibility of that double standard is precisely why appeals to due process, legal norms, respect for authority, etc... are being met with derision. You can't appeal to trust where there is none, you can't appeal to shared values that are not shared.
Well the 2018 protestors were accused of trespassing/crowding and were arrested en masse. But I don't get the second part, are you claiming that people accused of trespassing/crowding on January 6th were sentenced to months/years in prison?
I'm not saying that they've been sentenced to anything, I'm saying that they have spent months in prison
You asked @anti-dan what norm was being broken and this is your answer. The norm is that political protests get a light touch, that you don't hold someone in pre-trial confinement for 6 - 9 months when their only charge is parading without a permit. That is the norm that is being broken here.
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I suppose it would have been even application if fence-hoppers at the Portland courthouse got years-long sentences, or the same for the people arrested for disrupting the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.
On a state level, but much more akin to the Jan 6th in scope of obstructing an official proceeding, the Wisconsin legislature was occupied by thousands of protesters, and as far as I can tell no one received years-long sentences. Had they received such sentences, that would be good evidence that these actions are punished the same regardless of the cause being fought for.
Not everyone on J6 punched a cop or broke stuff, the vast majority did no worse than just trespassing. So shouldn't that group be used as the baseline comparison to Portland fence-hoppers or Wisconsin protestors?
Yes, I'm comparing them to Hale-Cusanelli.
In a comment lower down I note that even the people accused of assaulting police in Portland often got deferred resolution. Did anyone alleged to assault the Capitol Police on Jan 6 get that treatment?
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