After a tearful apology for her actions, a Kansas woman was sentenced on Monday to two years of probation and 60 hours of social service for her role in the Capitol riots.
Levenworth’s Esther Schwemmer also has to pay $ 500 for damages to the Capitol building, with prosecutors saying a total of $ 1.5 million. The ruling was communicated through a video conference in the US District Court in the District of Columbia.
“I’m deeply ashamed of my actions that day,” Schwemer told US District Judge Dobney Friedrich in a broken voice. “Nothing was like Christ about it … I hope I can forgive myself over time.”
Friedrich told Schwemer that “not all of us are defined by the worst mistakes we have made.”
“So I hope you can forgive yourself,” Friedrich said. “I thank you, I think it’s a real remorse here.”
However, Friedrich added that while Schwemer’s conviction was a misdemeanor, it was “still a serious crime.”
“Miss Schwemer was part of a large violent crowd that arrived at the First Amendment about a year ago … and despite what she said at the time of the crime, her actions were never patriotic. About her rights to the First Amendment, which was neither an action nor a movement, “Friedrich said. “She was clearly invading and did not have the right to be there. Her actions are a law whose mission is to protect the Capitol and its members and others in the Capitol. Indirectly endangered the bailiff. “
Friedrich said Schwemer acknowledged her actions from the beginning and worked with the FBI to resolve her case. Schwemer has also devoted her life to her family, her work, and volunteering, the judge said.
“She has done a lot of service through the church, running a local church meal to serve the poor, investing in young people, and doing faith-based service for years,” Friedrich said. rice field.
Schwemer was sentenced to up to six months in prison, five years of probation, and a $ 5,000 fine. Prosecutors demanded 30 days of house arrest as part of a three-year probation period, 60 hours of community service, and $ 500 in reparations.
According to court documents, Schwemer, 56, and her friend Jennifer Ruth Parks, 61, attend Protrump’s “Stop Steel” rally before taking the crowd to the Capitol. We visited Washington DC together for this. They were initially charged with four misdemeanors. Chaotic and destructive behavior in a restricted building. Violent invasion and chaotic behavior into the Capitol building. Parades, demonstrations and picketing will take place in the Parliament building.
Both pleaded guilty to one “parade” charge. The government withdrew other charges in exchange for their guilty plea. Leavenworth Park was sentenced Two years of probation from December 8th, 60 hours of community service, $ 500 in compensation.
The woman was one of eight Kansas residents charged with their alleged role in the Capitol riots. Mark Leveguila of St. Mary’s He will be found guilty of one misdemeanor on December 1st and will be sentenced to imprisonment in March. Cases of the other five defendants — Three Proud Boys from Johnson County, Wichita Man and Topika Man — winding the courtroom.
The involvement of Schwemer and Parks in the Capitol breach was revealed when the FBI was informed on January 11, 2021 that Parks had joined the “DC mob.” The FBI interviewed both women on January 17, according to court documents. Schwemer told authorities that she and Parks were eating while watching people run towards the Capitol building. According to Schwemer, the two follow the crowd to another location outside the Capitol, eventually proposing that people go in front of the building “to make a peaceful protest.” rice field.
“Schwemer claimed that she and Parks walked in front of the Capitol, did not encounter a barricade, and police officers did not tell them to stop,” a court document said.
“Schwemer saw the door to the US Capitol open and set foot in the park.”
She told the agent that they went upstairs and police allowed them to walk around. But as soon as the police officer told them to leave, she said they did.
Schwemer gave the agent a photo of her and the park taken outside the Capitol building, court records show. In the photo, she was wrapped in the “Trump 2020” flag and wore a Make America Great Again beanie cap.
In a letter to the judge, Schwemer apologized to Parliamentary police and members of parliament and employees “for what they must have endured that day and its lasting consequences.”
“I regret losing my life, the horror that Congressmen must have felt, and the law enforcement that worked that day,” she wrote. “I personally did not hurt my property or anyone, but my presence on that day participated in the turmoil that caused death, physical injury, and mental distress to others. In your honor, I can promise you that you will never see me committing another crime for the rest of my life. “
Schwemer, a longtime hair stylist who retired in 2019, said he was an “honest hard-working American” who came to the United States from Germany at the age of 24. Her husband is an Army veteran.
“I accepted this country as mine and assimilated it into our society,” she said. “I walked the Capitol on January 6th and made a stupid choice. That choice will carry me for the rest of my life.”
She said she spent 28 years in the United States. “I had only one speeding ticket 20 years ago, so I can promise that there is no chance of recidivism.”
“I just want to disappear vaguely for the rest of my years,” she said. “I am determined to move away from politics and strive to atone for my actions on January 6. I am deeply sorry that what started as an act of patriotism on my part was very wrong. I think. “