Monstrous Podium Thief Narrowly Avoids Death Penalty, Gets 75 Days in Jail Instead

This light sentence is an insult to the very core of our democracy.

Democracy is about podiums.

If we can’t keep our podiums from being molested, then how they hell can we have a democracy?

BBC:

A Florida resident photographed during the Capitol riots with a podium bearing the Speaker of the House seal has been sentenced to 75 days in prison.

Adam Johnson, 37, dubbed “Podium Guy” by social media users in the wake of the riot, was also fined $5,000 (£3,725).

In November, Johnson pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building.

Federal prosecutors had asked for a 90-day sentence.

Judge Reggie Walton questioned how he could be “a good role model” to his five children, according to NBC News.

He said Johnson had made “a mockery” of the day’s events, which he likened to those seen in a “banana republic”.

The judge is black, so he’s an expert on bananas

“We’re on a dangerous slide in America,” the judge warned.

Johnson had travelled to Washington DC from Tampa, Florida on 5 January, a day before the riot.

He was photographed carrying the lectern used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and posing in front of a painting depicting the surrender of British General John Burgoyne in the American Revolutionary War.

According to court documents, he believed the podium “would make a good prop for a picture”.

Johnson also admitted he told other rioters that a nearby bust of George Washington would make for “a great battering ram” if needed.

He is said to have spent about half an hour inside the building.

This light sentence is going to embolden more domestic terrorists to molest our podiums.