Sioux City Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol rioter sentenced to 90 days in prison
A Sioux City man is the third of four Iowans convicted so far in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot to be sentenced, receiving a 90-day jail term on Thursday.
Kenneth Rader, 54, also will be required to serve 36 months of probation.
Surveillance video shows Rader inside the Capitol for three minutes during the riot, wearing a blue Trump 2020 sweatshirt as he entered through a door in the building’s Senate wing. After looking around, chatting with a few people inside the building and picking up some shards of glass and plaster as souvenirs, Rader left the building. A relative reported him to the FBI shortly after the riot, according to court records.
Rader pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison. Prosecutor Jordan Konig argued said Rader’s social media postings indicated his intention was to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Rader posted on Nov. 7, 2020, the day Biden was declared the winner of the election, that he had joined a militia in response to “the most corrupt election in history.” In subsequent posts and comments, he wrote that if Biden were to be inaugurated, “this is going to spill blood in the streets” and “we are right around the corner from Civil War.”
In December, referring to Biden, he wrote, “I call dibs I’ll behead him like ISIS.”
His postings also indicated he was an adherent of the QAnon conspiracy theory, the prosecution said. QAnon holds that a large cabal of elites, celebrities and prominent Democrats are involved in child sex trafficking and that then-President Donald Trump was fighting a secret war to defeat the group and would remain in office despite Biden’s victory.
Konig showed video in court Thursday of an interview Rader gave prior to entering the U.S. Capitol, in which he said he was “more than mad” and that “we the people have the final say.” Konig said Rader has not shown any remorse for his actions.
“He seems inclined to do it again,” he said. “He has expressed only defiance about these charges and generally about the events of January 6th.”
More:Donald Trump embraces QAnon again at North Carolina rally as ties to violence raise concern
Rader: ‘My actions were wrong’
An hour prior to his sentencing, Rader posted a quote on Facebook he attributed to Sonny Barger, a founding member of Hells Angels Motorcycle Club: “Stand tall, stay free, stay loyal, and always value honor.”
But in court Thursday, Rader said he acknowledges his actions were wrong.
“For the record I would just like to say that I do recognize that this event was entirely wrong. I can’t say much more. It was wrong and my actions were wrong,” he said prior to being sentenced.
Though Rader was one of the first to enter the U.S. Capitol building, Judge Royce Lamberth said he would not impose the maximum sentence for Rader because he likely realized, even while in the Capitol, that he should not go any further.
“I recognize at some point you stood there and realized, ‘This is not what I should be doing,’” Lamberth said.
Lamberth acknowledged that Rader’s prison sentence is 30 days longer than those for other Capitol rioters who pleaded guilty to similar charges. He said the longer sentence was due to Rader’s history as a habitual offender, with 23 convictions, including one felony conviction.
“I don’t think I’ve had any of these defendants who have that kind of record,” Lamberth said.
He said he hopes Rader’s lengthy term of probation will help him get on the right path, and warned that any violation would lead to his probation being revoked.
“I want you to do well, but I don’t want you in 2024 to come back and do this all over again,” he said. “You’re going to be on probation and I’m going to be around in 2024.”
Other Iowans sentenced
On Sept. 27, Kyle Young of the Dallas County town of Redfield received a more than seven-year sentence in connection with his guilty plea to a charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding a police officer. It was the fourth-longest term of incarceratiom for any of the rioters convicted to far.
Prosecutors said Young joined a crowd assaulting Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone on the west terrace of the Capitol during fighting that led up to the incursion. In sentencing him, the judge rejected his expression of remorse, calling him a “one-man wrecking ball” and noting that video from the riot showed him joining in other assaults.
More:Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police get most prison time, but majority of those sentenced avoid jail
Previously, Daryl Johnson of St. Ansgar received a 30-day prison term. He had pleaded guilty to a felony charge of civil disorder.
On Sept. 23, a jury in Washington found Doug Jensen of Des Moines, one of a handful of rioters who chose to go trial rather than enter a plea, guilty of all seven counts against him, including civil disorder and obstruction. His sentencing is pending.
Four other Iowans still face charges in the incursion.
William Morris of the Des Moines Register contributed reporting.
Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at FBlock@registermedia.com or on Twitter at @francescablock3.
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