WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Kenneth Rader cheered fellow rioters and jeered police officers, following their retreat up the steps at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Within 90 seconds of the mob's breaching of the Capitol doors, Rader, wearing a blue "Trump 2020" hoodie, was among the first wave to enter the building. Once inside, he stopped near the Senate wing door and watched, picking up pieces of glass and plaster as souvenirs before leaving a couple minutes later.
"Frankly, he looked out of place," his attorney, Brad Hansen, said.
His actions before and after that day, in addition to his participation in the rioting, led a federal judge on Thursday to sentence Rader, of Sioux City, to 90 days in prison, plus three years on probation with the condition he continue substance abuse treatment.
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"I want you to do well, but I don't want you in 2024 to come back and do this again," Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said in the hearing, conducted via video from a Washington, D.C., courthouse.
Rader, 54, will self-report to prison. The judge did not set a deadline for him to do so.
"For the record, I do recognize that this event was entirely wrong. It was wrong, and my actions were wrong," said Rader, who participated in the hearing from Sioux City with his attorney.
Rader pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building. Three other charges were dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea.
In arguing for the prison sentence, a government prosecutor detailed Rader's social media posts leading up to Jan. 6 in which he said he had joined a militia, was ready for civil war and referred to beheading Joe Biden if he tried to take office.
Rader traveled to Washington on Jan. 5 and was among the hundreds of supporters of former president Donald Trump to protest the results of the November 2020 election in which Biden had defeated Trump. The mob gathered outside the Capitol before breaking into the building in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the electoral college results declaring Biden the winner.
Rader attended the Trump-led "Stop the Steal" rally before marching to the Capitol. On his way there, Rader stopped to tell a reporter, "What they're going to find out today are three words: we the people. We the people have the final say."
On video shown Thursday, Rader could be seen cheering on fellow rioters and following them up the Capitol steps. Another video showed him standing inside, picking up pieces of debris before leaving. Once outside, he recorded a video of himself, saying, "Everyone thought we were joking. ... This is what you call serious."
"He does not appear to regret his conduct, even to this day," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan Konig said, referring to a Sept. 20 post on Rader's Facebook page in which he insists Trump is still president. Konig recommended the 90-day prison sentence, half of the maximum six-month prison term.
Hansen said the government's sentencing recommendation was not unreasonable, but probation alone also would be appropriate, given Rader didn't hit anyone or destroy anything during his short time inside the Capitol.
"He was certainly whipped into a frenzy by everything that happened in the 2020 election ... and he got carried away," Hansen said.
The FBI arrested Rader in Sioux City on Jan. 20, months after a family member had tipped off agents to his participation in the insurrection. Rader told FBI agents during a September 2021 interview that he had attended the Jan. 6 rally but never entered the Capitol. The FBI confirmed Rader's presence in Washington through cellphone records, and relatives identified him as the person shown in screen shots of the video footage.
"Everyone that went in (the Capitol) is wrong," Judge Lamberth told Rader.
Lamberth said he believed Rader realized once he entered the Capitol that he, too, was wrong, prompting his quick exit. But because of Rader's criminal history of 23 prior convictions and past drug use, Lamberth added the probation term to his prison sentence, a step the judge said he has not taken with other insurrectionists he's sentenced. Lamberth warned Rader he'll send him back to jail if he violates any conditions of probation.
As part of his plea agreement, Rader must pay $500 restitution to the Architect of the Capitol to help offset the nearly $1.5 million in damage done to the building during the riot.