Robert Keith Packer, 57, declined to address U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols before sentencing him during a hearing held via video conference. The judge noted the “incredibly offensive” message on Packer’s sweatshirt before imposing the sentence. “It seems to me that he wore that sweatshirt for a reason. We don’t know what the reason was because Mr. Packer didn’t tell us,” Nichols said. Photos of Packer wearing the sweatshirt went viral after the January 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill. When FBI agents asked him why he wore it, he replied “spontaneously,” “Because I was cold,” a federal prosecutor said in a court filing. Packer’s sweatshirt featured an image of a human skull over the words “Camp Auschwitz.” The word “Personal” was on the back. It also bore the phrase “Work brings freedom,” a rough translation of the German words above the entrance gate to Auschwitz, the concentration camp in occupied Poland where the Nazis killed more than 1 million men, women and children. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst said she learned Wednesday that Packer was also wearing an “SS” T-shirt — a reference to the Nazi Party paramilitary organization founded by Adolf Hitler — under his Jan. 6 sweatshirt. Packer “attacked the very government that gave him the freedom to express those beliefs, no matter how abhorrent or evil they may be,” when he joined the mob supporting former President Trump, the prosecutor said Packer “wanted to support the overthrow of our democracy and keep a dictatorial leader in place by force and violence,” First told the judge. Defense attorney Stephen Brennwald acknowledged that Packer’s attire was “grossly offensive” but argued that it should not be a factor in the conviction because he has the right of free speech to wear it. “It’s awful that he wore that shirt that day. I just don’t think it’s appropriate to give him extra time because of that because he’s allowed to wear it,” she said. Brennwald added that Packer was offended and angry at being labeled a white supremacist “because he doesn’t see himself that way at all.” The defense attorney said Packer wanted to sue House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for associating him with white supremacy during a news conference several days after the riot. Packer declined to speak during Thursday’s hearing because he didn’t want his words “to be thrown out there” on social media, his attorney told the judge. Packer, a resident of Newport News, Virginia, pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor count of marching, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison. Packer told the FBI that he was about 10 to 12 feet away from a rioter, Ashli Babbitt, when an officer fatally shot her as she tried to climb through the broken window of a barred door leading to the speaker’s lobby. “She told the agents she heard the gunshot and saw her fall behind the window she was trying to climb into,” Furst wrote in a court filing. Furst said Packer expressed no remorse during his interview with the FBI. “He was more interested in airing how he received hate mail and how he was ‘hounded’ by the media for interviews,” he added. Packer’s younger sister, Kimberly Rice, wrote a letter asking the judge for leniency. She said her brother’s sweatshirt “could be considered in bad taste” but added that “freedom of expression” is not a crime. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 75 days in jail followed by 36 months of probation. Brennwald asked for probation without jail time. Newsom urges DOJ to investigate ‘alleged fraud scheme’ to send migrants to Martha’s Vineyard Hispanic Republicans say DeSantis migrant flights expose border issues FBI agents arrested Packer a week after the riot. He was released pending sentencing. Packer is a self-employed pipe fitter. Prosecutors say he has a long criminal record, with about 21 convictions, mostly for drunken driving and other motor vehicle offenses. More than 870 people have been charged with federal crimes for their behavior on January 6. About 400 of them pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors. More than 250 people accused of rioting have been convicted, with about half receiving prison terms ranging from seven days to 10 years.
