Retired Police Chief Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison Over Capitol Breach

Alan Hostetter attends a rally to oppose a curfew in place due to a rise in COVID-19 cases, in San Clemente, Calif., on Nov. 21, 2020. (Jack Bradley/The Epoch Times)

A former police chief from Texas has been sentenced to over 11 years in prison by a district court after being convicted on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Alan Hostetter, 59, from Poolville, Texas, was sentenced to 135 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release by a district judge, according to a Dec. 7 press release by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). He was found guilty of four felonies in July. Evidence presented during the trial claimed that the retired police chief “coordinated with his co-conspirators to obstruct and interfere with the joint session of Congress at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, convened in order to certify the electoral college vote.”

Before the Jan. 6 events unfolded, Mr. Holstetter allegedly gave speeches in which he outlined his views of the 2020 presidential election and called for the “execution” of his perceived political enemies. He drove all the way to Washington for the Jan. 6 protest, bringing a helmet, hatchets, knives, stun batons, pepper spray, and other gear.

On the day of the incident, he met with other members of a Telegram group called “The California Patriots-DC Brigade” and walked to the Ellipse, a 52-acre park south of the White House fence, to take part in the “Stop the Steal” rally, according to the DOJ.

After the rally, Mr. Holstetter went to the Capitol building and climbed up the stairs onto the inaugural stage, from which he waved the American flag, an action deemed to have “encouraged the rioters below, who had overrun the police line.”

Mr. Holstetter recorded a video while at the Upper West Terrace of the Capitol. “The people have taken back their House. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful sight in my whole life. We’ve been sitting here, quietly, for years, watching this corruption unfold. Hundreds of thousands of patriots showed up today to take back their government,” he said.

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In an Instagram post, Mr. Holstetter said: “This was the shot heard round the world ... the 2021 version of 1776. That war lasted eight years. We are just getting started.”

He was arrested a few months later, on June 10, in California by the FBI.

A Long Sentence

During the trial, Mr. Holstetter represented himself in the case. He repeatedly called the Jan. 6 incident an “obvious setup,” according to TV station WUSA9.

The ex-police chief insisted he was being targeted by the government for displaying “leadership skills” during the pandemic. He also claimed that the crowd that day was largely filled with “crisis actors.”

The 11-year prison term is one of the longest sentences handed down in the numerous Jan. 6 related cases.

Multiple members of the Proud Boys group are serving prison terms ranging from 10 to 22 years. Stewart Rhodes, the founder of Oath Keepers, is currently serving his 18-year term.

The four counts on which Mr. Hostetter was convicted are: “conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.”

Last month, four of Mr. Holstetter’s co-defendants were convicted by a jury. Earlier, another co-defendant pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding. These individuals are awaiting their sentencing.

January 6 Defendants

Mr. Hostetter’s sentencing comes as there has been criticism of how the Jan. 6 defendants are being treated by U.S. authorities.

A 2021 report by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and other Republican lawmakers blasted the treatment meted out to the “political prisoners,” who were being held at a jail in “unusually cruel” conditions.

According to Greene, the prisoners were beaten by guards and prison staff while being denied proper medical treatment. Some were not able to speak with their attorneys. A few were denied haircuts or razors to shave.

This stood in stark contrast with the more lenient treatment meted out to BLM rioters. “Approximately 90 percent of BLM and Antifa rioters have been released from jail, and their charges have been dropped” despite the 2020 BLM riots causing more than $2 billion in damage.

The Capitol breach only resulted in damages of around $1.5 million, she said.

During a speech in June last year, Ms. Greene said that Jan. 6 defendants were being “used as pawns to dangle in front of [Americans] to show that if you cross a certain line, if you support a certain president—as in President Trump—or if you dare to speak up against the government or … against an election being stolen, you’re going to be used. This is what’s gonna happen to you. You’re gonna spend your days wasting away in solitary confinement.”

In the 35 months since Jan. 6, 2021, over 1,230 individuals have been charged in almost all 50 states for crimes related to the Capitol breach incident. This includes more than 440 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, which is a felony.

Despite these arrests, the “investigation remains ongoing,” said the DOJ.