By Bond Robertson 
Florida man Robert Scott Palmer admitted he was on the front lines when hundreds of Trump supporters were physically attacked and stormed the Capitol on January 6. Palmer’s actions on this dark day are well documented through video and photo materials.
The 54-year-old was wearing a star-and-stripes jacket and hat with the caption “Florida for Trump” when he listened to then-President Donald Trump’s fiery rhetoric about election fraud earlier in the day. Then he followed the masses up to the Capitol.
On Friday last week, Palmer was sentenced in federal court in Washington, D.C. to more than five years in prison. This is the heaviest punishment yet anyone has been sentenced in a congressional storm.
Even Palmer was punished more severely than the world-famous “law of the shaman”, Jacob Chansley, who was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
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Norwegian lawyer: – The sentence is rather harsh
Palmer’s defense attorney, Stavanger’s man Bjorn Braunvand, says there is a very special reason for sentencing his client to such a severe punishment.
– I think the sentence was a bit strict. The reason he received such a severe punishment was because he had done certain things that weren’t good while waiting for the sentence to be pronounced. He has asked for money from some right-wing groups on the Internet. It was unproblematic in itself, but he also lied about the case. Instead of saying he was guilty, he told this group that he had defended himself against the police. Defender Björn Braunvand tells Nettavisen that while in reality he was the one who attacked the police.
– Thus, it was difficult for the judge to accept that he actually admitted criminal responsibility (acceptance of responsibility), which is very important in the United States. If not, he would have been sentenced to less than four years in prison, not five years and three months, Brunvand says.
Brunvand says his client will not challenge the result in a higher court. Thus, the 63-month prison sentence remains final.
There is no intention to appeal the ruling. He says nothing positive will come out of the appeal.
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– Convicted of committing acts of violence against police officers. He sprayed a fire extinguisher and threw the device and the plank at the police. He was about to throw something resembling a spear, but the police stopped him and shot him with rubber bullets. This happened on the stairs outside the Capitol, Brunvand says.
He wanted to help the president
Palmer sent a letter to the judge before the sentencing, in which he claimed Trump cheated on him. In the letter, Palmer wrote that he came to the realization that Trump and his allies had lied to their supporters by “making false claims that the elections were stolen and that it is our ‘duty’ to stand up to tyranny.” He writes. New York times.
“I didn’t realize that, in fact, these were the tyrants who were desperately trying to hold onto power at any cost. Even by wreaking havoc they knew would happen with such rhetoric.”
– What do you think about why your agent chose to break into Congress, brown water?
I think he did this because he believed what Trump said about election fraud and that the result of the election was fraud, and that he wanted to help the president regain power by ensuring that the election result was not officially approved in the Senate.
– Explain that to me and the judge. The defender says he didn’t blame Trump at first, but now says he’s frustrated and angry with Trump, and feels he lied to him about the election result.
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Does your client believe he acted on direct orders from Trump?
No, it is not a direct order. But Trump spoke to Parliament just before the storm and encouraged them to go to Congress. It is quite clear that Trump instigated what happened. Trump and the circle around him, like Rudy Giuliani, had already launched allegations of widespread electoral fraud in the presidential elections during November and December. My client says he no longer believes in this, says Brunvand.
However, the judge expressed doubts during the trial as to whether Palmer’s remorse was genuine.
– I don’t know if your remorse is real or not. Judge Tanya Chutkan said, according to the website, I really hope so, and it seems so Law and crime.
– Maybe you regret, maybe not. I have no control over that. The judge said that the way you recover from your mistakes shows your true personality.
– I hope this is the last time I have such a situation
Brunvand has lived in the United States for 40 years. He now lives in Clearwater, Florida. He has practiced as an American advocate for 32 years, but has never been involved in a similar case like this.
– I have many serious cases. I’ve had murder cases where there were questions about the death penalty. I’ve had serious drug issues and scams. But this case is completely unique. I hope this is the last time I encounter a situation like this, he says.
– It’s totally unbelievable. I do not understand. But he says about the attack on Congress we saw it.
Almost a year later, more than 700 people were charged in connection with the congressional storm.
There are still new arrests every day, says Brunvand.
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Brunfand does not hide that he worries that Trump will be able to restore presidential power in 2024.
I think there is a danger that Trump will come back to power again. I don’t hope it will, but I see a lot of Americans who support him and think he’s cool. If you write something negative about Trump on social media, there are a lot of people defending him and saying he’s great. They believe that the elections were stolen. He says I get very nervous when I see this.
There are more and more political analysts who say that American democracy is in danger. What do you mean, Bronvand??
I think democracy was really in danger when Trump was elected in 2016. I was nervous that he would implement martial law (a military emergency) after the election defeat in 2020 to retain power. Trump only thinks of one person, himself.
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Difficult childhood
As mentioned, Palmer’s actions are well documented. Getting to know him was also not a great art, as he stood by his full name in a TV interview shortly before the storm, something like that the video offers.
Huffington Post He was able to identify him a few weeks after the attack, which led to Palmer being reported to the police.
During the trial, Palmer requested that his difficult childhood give him mitigating circumstances in sentencing, which federal judge Tanya Chutkan flatly refused.
“The difficult circumstances of his childhood are not the reason why he chose to go to Congress,” Chutkan said during the trial.
“Palmer did not like the outcome of the presidential election and does not want to transfer power because his candidate lost,” said Chutkan, who was appointed a federal judge by former President Obama.
Palmer also argued that the “architects” behind the congressional storm were not being prosecuted, something that Judge Schutkan believes is completely unrelated to the ruling.
– You have a point. Those who planned it may not have been prosecuted. The judge concluded that there was no reason to receive a lower sentence.