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A collage with Former President Donald Trump, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Christopher A. Wray and an image from outside the Capitol in Washington, District of Columbia on January 6, 2021. 

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John Earle Sullivan

A Utah man who recorded himself inciting violence and breaking a window before filming the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt outside the House chamber during the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/january-6-capitol-riot/" target=_blank>Jan. 6, 2021</a>, Capitol attack was sentenced Friday to six years in prison.

John Earle Sullivan, 29, was paid $90,875 for his videos before he was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/16/john-sullivan-convicted-jan-6-film/" target=_blank>convicted at trial</a>. A jury found him guilty in November of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/16/john-sullivan-convicted-jan-6-film/" target=_blank>rioting and obstructing Congress’s certification of the 2020 election results</a>, both felonies, and of five misdemeanor counts.

Prosecutors said Sullivan was a<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/16/sullivan-video-arrested/" target=_blank> self-described activist</a> with anarchist views who brought a tactical vest, a gas mask, a megaphone and a knife to the riot. Seeking a prison term<b> </b>of a little more than seven years, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebekah Lederer and Michael Barclay said Sullivan “shared a desire to see the government burn” and the vote certification stopped.

Defense attorney Steven Kiersh said Sullivan was born in Virginia, was adopted by a now-retired Army lieutenant colonel and his wife, and moved with them to Utah, where he trained to be an Olympic speed skater before injuries stopped him. Kiersh cited more than a dozen letters from friends and family members who described Sullivan as “much different” than what the jury saw. The attorney wrote that Sullivan “led an admirable and a caring life in which he displayed a sense of responsibility, a commitment to his family, friends and community and an individual who tried to enhance the lives of those around him.”

Since his conviction, Sullivan has been held in protective custody in virtual isolation at the D.C. jail, where authorities deemed that he held opposing political views and that housing him with other Jan. 6 defendants would be a “threat to his physical safety,” his lawyer said. Kiersh asked U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth for a 30-month sentence.

Kiersh said Sullivan will appeal his conviction and sentencing.

Because Sullivan expressed past support for the Black Lives Matter movement, conservatives such as Rudy Giuliani have claimed that he was a left-wing agitator in the mob, as they have sought to direct attention away from what motivated the overwhelmingly pro-Trump crowd. More than 1,350 people have been charged, including nearly 500 accused of attacking police, 130 of whom were armed or caused injury.

Sullivan’s interests were mixed, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/utah-man-sentenced-felony-obstruction-and-other-charges-during-jan-6-capitol-breach" target="_blank">said prosecutors, who called him </a>an agent of anti-establishment chaos who shared the goal of attacking Congress and the presidential transition. Using personas including “JaydenX” and Insurgence U.S.A., Sullivan built a social media following of nearly 500,000 by posting protest-related content after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

After he organized a July 2020 protest in Provo, Utah, that led to a motorist being shot, he was targeted by conservatives who believed he was a Black Lives Matter activist, he said. Black Lives Matter activists in Utah said Sullivan was not part of their group and urged protesters to avoid him as a troublemaker and riot chaser.

In the winter of 2020, the government said Sullivan wrote in one social media post: “Let the electoral purge commence.” In another post on Jan. 2, 2021, he wrote: “Time To Burn It All Down.” At the Capitol he was recorded saying, “We’re taking this s--- to the ground” and “Let’s f--- this s--- up.”

Sullivan grew up in Stafford, Va., about 45 miles from Washington. His brother James is a conservative activist who has denounced John’s liberal politics. The split between the brothers was the subject of an unaired documentary called “<a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/documentary-house-divided-adopted-brothers-jan-6-riot-jade-sacker-john-sullivan-1235479585/" target=_blank>A House Divided</a>” by Jade Sacker, who recorded both men in Washington. Some of Sacker’s video was shown at trial.

Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, National Emmy Award nominee, Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize for Excellence in Investigative Reporting, American Immigration Lawyers Association Media Leadership Award,

Harvard University, B.A. in English

Spencer S. Hsu is an investigative reporter, two-time Pulitzer finalist and national Emmy Award nominee. Hsu has covered homeland security, immigration, Virginia politics and Congress.

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Man who recorded fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6 sentenced

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