One of three active-duty Marines who stormed the U.S. Capitol together was sentenced on Monday to probation and 279 hours of community service — one hour for every Marine who was killed or wounded fighting in the Civil War.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she can’t fathom why Dodge Hellonen violated his oath to protect the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” — and risked his career — by joining the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that disrupted Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
“I really urge you to think about why it happened so you can address it and ensure it never happens again,” Reyes said.
Dodge Hellonen, now 24, was the first of the three Marines to be punished for participating in the Capitol siege. Reyes also is scheduled to sentence co-defendants Micah Coomer on Tuesday and Joshua Abate on Wednesday.
The three Marines — friends from the same unit — drove together from a military post in Virginia to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when then-President Donald Trump spoke at his “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. They joined the crowd that stormed the Capitol after Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell.”
Before imposing Hellonen’s sentence, Reyes described how Marines fought and died in some of the fiercest battles in American history. She recited the number of casualties from some of the bloodiest wars.
After walking to the Rotunda, they placed a red “Make America Great Again” hat on a statute and took photos of it. They remained inside the Capitol for nearly an hour, joining other rioters in chanting “Stop the Steal!” and “Four More Years!”
None of them are accused of engaging in any violence or destruction on Jan. 6. But prosecutors said none of them have expressed sincere remorse for their crimes.
All three Marines are expected to be discharged on “Other than Honorable” conditions which means they receive no benefits. They do not qualify for Veteran status either. They will be treated the same as a Felon on job interviews and for loans.
Their punishment is just 35 days of unpaid labor, plus the threat of poverty, discrimination and incarceration?
For millions of average Americans, that’s just a regular day, and they didn’t participate on the front lines of a coup.
That is fucking messed up
Other than illegal entry, they didn’t do anything. There was no evidence of violence and they had their military careers ruined.
They went to an organised political event which turned violent, and instead of ‘always faithfully’ serving their communities by at least distancing themselves from the most violent by leaving, or even protecting their police colleagues, they willingly continued on to breach a guarded building so that they could prevent elected representatives from performing their duties.
And their punishment is to exist as a common civilian.
Either the Marine Corps oath is worthless, and/or their sentence is not a punishment, and/or this is a tacit admission that being an American civilian is punishment enough in itself.
For no reason other than being born, millions of people experience the same sentence. These two did something.
WTF were they even doing there? This BS about “oh, they didn’t do anything” is not going to fly.
279 days would be considered a joke of a sentence, let alone 279 hours!
This is absolutely infuriating. Their punishment should be more severe being that they were military, not lighter.
We are literally asking these traitors to try this again what with these pathetic punishments.
None of them are accused of engaging in any violence or destruction on Jan. 6. But prosecutors said none of them have expressed sincere remorse for their crimes.
And none of them will if judges hand out flimsy sentences like community service for participating in an attempted insurrection.
I assume court martials are also up and coming for these three and hopefully there the proverbial book will be thrown at them. Hard.
Traitorous, every one of them. They should be given a dishonorable discharge, barred from reenlistment, and forfeiture of all VA benefits.
They have taken it up on themselves to disgrace what it represents to be a defender of this nation and its ideals. The oath they took was nothing more than words to them. I am very disappointed in my military brothers and hope they can find a better path going forward.
Already happening. From the article:
As of Friday, all three Marines were still on active-duty status, according to the Marine Corps. But all three could be separated from the Marine Corps “on less than honorable conditions,” prosecutors said.
Hellonen received separation paperwork in July, while Coomer awaited a decision last Friday on his possible separation, according to prosecutors. They said Abate was still enlisted in the Marine Corps as of Sept. 1
They said “throw the book at 'em”. Sadly, the book was the 3-page leaflet detailing conduct becoming of a marine, apparently.
