Jan. 6 riot defendant Daniel Goodwyn remembers what it felt like when a federal judge ordered his computer to be monitored by the government for alleged disinformation as part of his sentence for entering and remaining in the Capitol that day three years ago.
“It feels Orwellian,” Goodwyn, a 35-year-old from Corinth, Texas, told the Washington Examiner when asked about the computer monitoring program put in place by U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton. Goodwyn said he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as a citizen journalist for an independent website known as StopHate.com. He entered the building via the Senate wing door at 3:32 p.m. and went inside the Capitol for “a couple of minutes,” according to his criminal affidavit.
For those few minutes, Goodwyn would spend weeks behind bars and pay thousands of dollars.
As former President Donald Trump‘s 2024 election campaign marches full steam into a season marred by criminal trials, the Republican nominee has labeled Jan. 6 defendants like Goodwyn as “hostages” and “political prisoners,” with promises to pardon them if he is reelected after the 2024 election. In all, more than 1,350 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 protest, and prosecutors have gained more than 950 convictions.
Trump has led a chorus of critics who say the Justice Department has treated defendants too harshly and used more aggressive law enforcement tactics against Jan. 6 riot participants than in nearly any other situation.
Read more at Washingtonexaminer.com
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