PanamaTimes

Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

A Florida man supported Obama and didn't vote for Trump. Then he stormed the Capitol, pepper-sprayed cops, broke a $2,900 window, and got 4.5 years in prison.

A Florida man supported Obama and didn't vote for Trump. Then he stormed the Capitol, pepper-sprayed cops, broke a $2,900 window, and got 4.5 years in prison.

Mitchell Todd Gardner "slowly started to believe" that the election had been stolen from Trump, his attorneys said.
A federal judge sentenced a Florida man who voted for Obama twice and did not vote for Trump in 2016 to 4.5 years in prison for his participation in the January 6 insurrection.

Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Mitchell Todd Gardner II, 34, of Seffner, Florida, to 55 months in federal prison on Friday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Mehta also ordered Gardner to pay $3,500 in restitution and to stay under supervised release for 36 months after he leaves prison.

Prosecutors charged Gardner with obstructing an official proceeding, knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, according to a criminal complaint.

Attorneys for Gardner argued in a sentencing memorandum filed on March 3 that he grew up in a red state, which explains the "huge discrepancy between his life and nonviolent choices otherwise, and his behavior the day of January 6." Gardner's attorneys said he voted for Obama "both times" and "did not vote for Donald Trump when he ran for office."

It's unclear if Gardner voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Farheena Siddiqui, Gardner's attorney, did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Sunday.

"He believed President Trump's candidacy to be a joke, a publicity event for a celebrity," the sentencing memorandum states.

After President Joe Biden was announced as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Trump's misinformation caused Gardner to believe "that the election had been stolen and the way of life in America was about to change," the document says.

Gardner had never been politically active before 2020, but during Trump's presidency he "flourished financially," which led him to believe the misinformation that Trump was spreading, his attorneys said.

According to the DOJ, Gardner sprayed Capitol Police officers with a Metropolitan Police Department pepper spray canister in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

"The contents hit one officer directly in the face shield and splattered onto at least two additional officers," the DOJ said in the release. "This caused the officers to cough for an extended period and also burned their eyes."

Gardner also used the pepper spray canister to smash a window into the Senate Terrace Room which cost $2,900 to replace, according to the DOJ. After entering the window, Gardner handed another rioter a wooden table leg that they used to attack police, the release says.

On Saturday, Trump called on his supporter to "protest" and "take our nation back" in a post on Truth Social after he predicted his own potential indictment before a New York grand jury. The language was reminiscent of his December 2020 tweet that asked his followers to converge on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

So far, police have charged at least 1,003 people with crimes in connection to the Capitol insurrection. At least 476 Capitol rioters have so far pleaded guilty for their roles.
Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
Oracle and OpenAI Plan $40 Billion Nvidia Chip Purchase for AI Data Center
×