Sixty Day Incarceration for Infowar’s Host Owen Shroyer for J 6 Speech
Renee Parsons
Hopeful of a probation sentence, on the morning of Tuesday, September 12th, Infowars Host and consummate ace reporter Owen Shroyer was sentenced to sixty days in Federal prison by US District Court Judge Timothy Kelly in DC. This is less than the 120 days that the DOJ recommended; while any jailing of a journalist sets an egregious unconstitutional precedence against the First Amendment.
Here’s a brief history of Owen’s predicament:
Although Owen never entered the Capitol Building on January 6th, his difficulties began in December 2019 when Shroyer ‘disrupted’ a House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump as the DOJ cited Shroyer’s ‘unlawful history at the US Capitol.”
As a result of his presence on January 6th, the DOJ targeted Shroyer with ‘Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct on US Capitol Grounds” and “Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building;” both of which have been exploited to charge multiple J6 defendants. By February 2020 with no evidence of any underlying crime, Shroyer agreed to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement which identified a realignment of ‘restricted’ Capitol Grounds area with DOJ assurance of no incarceration; upon which the government ultimately reneged.
A Criminal Complaint was filed on August 19, 2021 with a Statement of Offense in June, 2023. Ultimately Owen plead guilty to a Misdemeanor charge of Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds.
The Sentencing Agreement of September 5, 2023 submitted by US Attorney Matthew Graves states unequivocally that
“One of the most important factors in Shroyer’s case is his access to and use of the platform that is his Internet streaming program, both before, during, and after January 6th” as well as Shroyer’s assertion of the ‘false certification of Biden.’
In other words, Owen was being pursued due to his role on Infowars and another Defendant who dared challenge the validity of the 2020 election.
Substantiating the DOJ’s prosecution included Shroyer’s use of a bullhorn as the Agreement asserts that
“Shroyer helped create January 6. The government respectfully requests that this Court sentence him to 120 days of incarceration, 12 months of supervised release, 60 hours of community service, and $500 in restitution.”
Owen totally completed the community service requirement which the government continues to claim he has failed to complete.
Defense attorney Norm Pattis said Shroyer attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally as a journalist who intended to cover the event for his Infowars show. “The First Amendment permits and protects the rights of individuals to assemble and engage in demonstrations that confront and criticize the government, even when those demonstrations become rowdy or unruly,” Pattis wrote.
In a novel legal interpretation, prosecutors said the First Amendment doesn’t protect the conduct for which Shroyer was charged as if ‘unlawful’ acts are not protected by the First Amendment.
The Sentencing Agreement cited
“Shoyer’s rhetoric in advance of January 6th” included “stoking the flames of a potential disruption” as he “stoked the fires of discontent with the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election online, driving a mob of individuals to descend on Washington, D.C. on January 6th.
The Agreement further claims that “And the First Amendment is no bar to the Court’s consideration of Shroyer’s words and actions at sentencing.” In other words, the First Amendment is no longer applicable to one’s speech.
“Finally, his statements and actions after January 6 illustrate his complete lack of remorse.”
In an Infowars broadcast in August, 2022, Shroyer suggested “the FBI should be investigated for their role on January 6” and that “Democrats stood down security intentionally” which has been confirmed by former Capitol Hill Police Chief Stephen Sund.
As Speaker McCarthy continues to limit public release of the January 6th video, the truth of the ‘insurrection’ remains inaccessible.
For those wishing to help defer Owen’s personal and professional expenses, see DefendOwen.com at GiveSendGo.