Capitol riot defendant Robert Reeder was set to appear in court Wednesday when the proceedings were called off at the last minute due to new videos that surfaced showing his actions on Jan. 6.
BuzzFeed reported that Reeder pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor "parading, demonstrating and picketing the Capitol" charge, which would result in a low-level punishment. He was going to argue for no jail time, the report claimed.
Then everything changed.
The Sedition Hunters, a group of online activists that have dedicated months to looking through videos and photos to identify people at the Capitol Jan. 6, found Reeder attacking Capitol Police officers in a video.
Their tweet shows a man with his arm out clearly making contact with an officer. He's wearing the same clothing that Reeder was photographed wearing that day.
We are extremely good at what we do, our small group has spent thousands of hours on research. Yet only 4 hours bef… https://t.co/7COmGQwf5u— #SeditionHunters (@#SeditionHunters) 1629297147.0
@SeditionHunters and another https://t.co/3TExe55lL4— the_silentkoala (@the_silentkoala) 1629304911.0
"Appearing before US District Judge Thomas Hogan for what was supposed to be Reeder's sentencing on Wednesday afternoon, Assistant US Attorney Josh Rothstein confirmed that the government had become aware of the new video footage earlier in the day and immediately notified the court and Reeder's lawyer," BuzzFeed reported
"Rothstein said the government initially planned to just revise its sentencing recommendation for Reeder from two months to six months in jail," the report also said. Once the videos were revealed prosecutors asked for a delay.
The sentencing hearing was then canceled.
