A Delaware business owner has been sentenced to 30 days of incarceration for after seeing the riot erupt on a Tinder date's television and taking an Uber ride to join the mob's attack, court records show.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan also on Friday ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $500 in restitution for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington.
On the eve of then-President Donald Trump's 鈥淪top the Steal鈥� rally on Jan. 6, Schaefer drove from Delaware to northern Virginia to spend the night at the home of a woman whom he had met on the Tinder online dating app. The next day, he decided to take an Uber ride to the Capitol after seeing the riot unfold on TV at his date's home in Alexandria.
鈥淗e had the Uber driver drop him off near the west front of the Capitol and he approached the Capitol from that drop off point,鈥� .
Schaefer entered the Capitol though a broken window near the Senate Wing doors, joined other rioters in chanting and spent approximately 28 minutes inside the building before leaving through a door, prosecutors said. He posted several images of the riot on Facebook, including one showing a pile of destroyed media equipment.
Schaefer, 36, of Milton, Delaware, was arrested in January 2022, He pleaded guilty in August to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of six months behind bars.
Defense attorney Joshua Insley noted that on Jan. 6, when Congress had convened a joint session to certify the results of President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.
Schaefer owns a charter transportation company based in Milton. Once a 鈥渃ommitted supporter鈥� of Trump, Schaefer now believes he was 鈥渕anipulated and used by those who hold power and will never face any consequences,鈥� his lawyer said.
鈥淲hile Mr. Schaefer accepts responsibility for his actions, he was guided and urged every step of the way by no less of an authority than the President of the United States and a majority of Republican Senators and Congressman that continued to repeat the 鈥楤ig Lie鈥� that the election had been stolen by the Democrats,鈥� Insley wrote.
Over 460 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses. Over 320 of them have been sentenced, with roughly half of them receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to 10 years.
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For full coverage of the Capitol riot, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege
Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
