A Jan. 6 rioter praised Vivek Ramaswamy at his sentencing for suggesting riot was an ‘inside job’

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former California police chief has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for joining the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, with a hatchet in his backpack. Alan Hostetter represented himself in the case and spun conspiracy theories as he spoke to a judge at his sentencing hearing Wednesday. Before his sentencing, he gave a speech that praised presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s suggestion the riot could have been an “inside job.” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said Hostetter’s conviction wasn’t about his beliefs, but rather for crossing police lines and interrupting Congress as they certified the 2020 election. His sentence is now among the longest handed down in the riot.