Woman who threatened Nancy Pelosi with hanging during Capitol riot gets over 2 years in prison

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the US Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.Pauline Bauer was near Pelosis office suite on Jan. 6, 2021, when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.In January, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden convicted Bauer of riot-related charges after hearing trial testimony without a jury.

A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the US Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.

Pauline Bauer was near Pelosi's office suite on Jan. 6, 2021, when she yelled at police officers to bring out the California Democrat so the mob of Donald Trump supporters could hang her.

In January, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden convicted Bauer of riot-related charges after hearing trial testimony without a jury. The judge sentenced her to two years and three months of imprisonment, giving her credit for the several months she already has served in jail, court records show.

Prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six years and six months for Bauer, 55, of Kane, Pennsylvania.

Bauer was part of the mob that forced police officers on the East Plaza to retreat. After forcing her way into the Capitol, she accosted officers who were trying to secure the Rotunda, shoving one of them, and yelled at police to "bring them out or we're coming in," according to federal prosecutors.

"They're criminals. They need to hang," she screamed. "Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang (her). Bring her out.'' Other rioters shouted threats against Pelosi while they roamed through the Capitol.

"Bauer's threat to hang Speaker Pelosi was real, imminent, and placed the Speaker of the House in danger," prosecutor James Peterson wrote in a court filing.

Bauer traveled from her north Pennsylvania home to attend then-President Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington on Jan. 6. She had attended a "Stop the Steal" rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a day earlier.

She came to Washington with at least five other people who have been charged in the Capitol riot, including co-defendant William Blauser, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Last year, McFadden ordered Blauser to pay a $500 fine but didn't sentence him to any term of incarceration or probation.

McFadden convicted Bauer of all five counts in her indictment, including a felony charge that she obstructed the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress that certified President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.

Defense attorney Komron Jon Maknoon said Bauer never intended to interfere with the process of certifying the Electoral College vote. She "genuinely regrets her past actions" and doesn't pose a threat to the public, her lawyer said.

''The international spotlight showcasing her at her worst has deeply affected her,'' Maknoon wrote.

Prosecutors said Bauer lied during her trial testimony, giving a bogus explanation for her confrontation with police and claiming she didn't remember threatening Pelosi.

Bauer has used "sovereign citizen" extremist rhetoric and filed "nonsense'' court documents while defending herself, prosecutors said.

More than a year before the trial, McFadden ordered Bauer to be jailed for several months for violating conditions of her release. She had claimed the court has no authority over her and told the judge that she doesn't want "any lawyering from the bench."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)