One of three active-duty Marines who stormed the U.S. Capitol together was sentenced on Monday to probation and 279 hours of community service — one hour for every Marine who was killed or wounded fighting in the Civil War.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she can’t fathom why Dodge Hellonen violated his oath to protect the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” — and risked his career — by joining the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that disrupted Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
“I really urge you to think about why it happened so you can address it and ensure it never happens again,” Reyes said.
Dodge Hellonen, now 24, was the first of the three Marines to be punished for participating in the Capitol siege. Reyes also is scheduled to sentence co-defendants Micah Coomer on Tuesday and Joshua Abate on Wednesday.
The three Marines — friends from the same unit — drove together from a military post in Virginia to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when then-President Donald Trump spoke at his “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House. They joined the crowd that stormed the Capitol after Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell.”
Before imposing Hellonen’s sentence, Reyes described how Marines fought and died in some of the fiercest battles in American history. She recited the number of casualties from some of the bloodiest wars.
After walking to the Rotunda, they placed a red “Make America Great Again” hat on a statute and took photos of it. They remained inside the Capitol for nearly an hour, joining other rioters in chanting “Stop the Steal!” and “Four More Years!”
None of them are accused of engaging in any violence or destruction on Jan. 6. But prosecutors said none of them have expressed sincere remorse for their crimes.
All three Marines are expected to be discharged on “Other than Honorable” conditions which means they receive no benefits. They do not qualify for Veteran status either. They will be treated the same as a Felon on job interviews and for loans.
Their punishment is just 35 days of unpaid labor, plus the threat of poverty, discrimination and incarceration?
For millions of average Americans, that’s just a regular day, and they didn’t participate on the front lines of a coup.
That is fucking messed up
Other than illegal entry, they didn’t do anything. There was no evidence of violence and they had their military careers ruined.
They went to an organised political event which turned violent, and instead of ‘always faithfully’ serving their communities by at least distancing themselves from the most violent by leaving, or even protecting their police colleagues, they willingly continued on to breach a guarded building so that they could prevent elected representatives from performing their duties.
And their punishment is to exist as a common civilian.
Either the Marine Corps oath is worthless, and/or their sentence is not a punishment, and/or this is a tacit admission that being an American civilian is punishment enough in itself.
For no reason other than being born, millions of people experience the same sentence. These two did something.
distancing themselves by leaving
Have you ever been in a crowd of people? Like a huge close proximity gathering, a concert? Try squeezing though that when they are all angry people without assaulting someone or getting assaulted.
Also, the military and police are NOT colleagues, they are TOTALLY separate. Not even the same purpose, you can argue that they’re brothers under serving a government, but by that logic then so are the postal workers, tax collectors, and judge.
Have you ever been in a crowd of people? Like a huge close proximity gathering, a concert?
Yes, including much larger protests. The estimate is only 2.2k people for Jan 6th, and that’s for all four sides of the building. I was immediately next to an outbreak of violence in one large protest. It’s much easier than getting out of the front of a concert, and I don’t have anywhere near the strength of a marine.
You can also see them in the pictures freely and casually walking in with a significant amount of space in the images in the article.
Why make up excuses for them? They literally posted on social media afterwards about the second civil war and being part of history. They weren’t there under duress.
I’m not making excuses, but admittedly I did not know about the social media posts, that is my bad and I am sorry.
WTF were they even doing there? This BS about “oh, they didn’t do anything” is not going to fly.
And they didn’t “have their careers ruined” they ruined their careers.
They deserve “dishonorable” and a prolonged visit to Leavenworth. They are traitors who violated their military oaths by participating in a fucking insurrection, for crying out loud!
Finally, some good news.
OTH doesn’t show up on a regular background check, and you are not required to disclose it. Not sure about bad conduct or dishonorable discharges, though.
They aren’t getting a court martial? damn
No, they can still get some, look up “Honorable for VA Purposes”.
They won’t, that’s for those with combat injuries.
GOOD.
279 days would be considered a joke of a sentence, let alone 279 hours!
This is absolutely infuriating. Their punishment should be more severe being that they were military, not lighter.
We are literally asking these traitors to try this again what with these pathetic punishments.
I could see some PUBLIC community service being layered on TOP of a long stretch in the clink, so that people get to see these people, and know who they are.
But only community service for these terrorists? WTAF.
I agree that this is way too light. Hopefully the rest of the active duty Marines makes their lives a living hell.
None of them are accused of engaging in any violence or destruction on Jan. 6. But prosecutors said none of them have expressed sincere remorse for their crimes.
And none of them will if judges hand out flimsy sentences like community service for participating in an attempted insurrection.
I assume court martials are also up and coming for these three and hopefully there the proverbial book will be thrown at them. Hard.
Traitorous, every one of them. They should be given a dishonorable discharge, barred from reenlistment, and forfeiture of all VA benefits.
They have taken it up on themselves to disgrace what it represents to be a defender of this nation and its ideals. The oath they took was nothing more than words to them. I am very disappointed in my military brothers and hope they can find a better path going forward.
UCMJ can still have its say.
Already happening. From the article:
As of Friday, all three Marines were still on active-duty status, according to the Marine Corps. But all three could be separated from the Marine Corps “on less than honorable conditions,” prosecutors said.
Hellonen received separation paperwork in July, while Coomer awaited a decision last Friday on his possible separation, according to prosecutors. They said Abate was still enlisted in the Marine Corps as of Sept. 1
They said “throw the book at 'em”. Sadly, the book was the 3-page leaflet detailing conduct becoming of a marine, apparently.
That’s a bullshit sentence. He needs to be in prison!
I still hold that if you entered the capital on January 6th, it’s treason and should be given the punishment for treason. All of them.
There’s something poetically appropriate about 279 hours, and this isn’t a poetic moment. It a moment where a serious judge would call this treason, or sedition and sentence the convicted person as such. SMH Every single one of them, those that entered the capitol, those that planned for the attack and then let others carry it out, and those that have supported them all along in elected offices in congress and elsewhere should all be treated appropriately.
*Sedition
No, literally treason. Attacking the Capitol is levying war, and supporting Trump is giving aid and comfort to an enemy (as Trump made himself an enemy of the United States by attempting to overthrow it).
It honestly should have been 279 days in the brig, with a brief written essay on every single one of those civil war marines.
They are likely going to get it from the military side as well. No double jeopardy protection exists between military/civilain courts.
Yeah, the USMC needs to throw the book at this chucklefuck.
All he got was a demotion.
No, he got temporarily reassigned to a shit detail and served his Other than honorable or dishonorable discharge papers. OTH can refer to either, so its not clear which. The other two likely have the same papers coming. Its near the end of the article.
Either discharge would prevent them from accessing any military benefits like the VA home loan/GI bill/VA healthcare/etc.
They would also not be eligible for security clearances/government work/etc. If they were in SIGINT like the article implies, they just lost all of the lucrative defense and government jobs for that rating. Say goodbye to 6 figure cybersecurity jobs in the civilan world too.
They fucked their lives up big.
Wait, aside from this case, OTH disqualifies you from the VA? That’s… fucked up given the cycle of PTSD, substance abuse, and lashing out that can be caused by military service and can easily lead to an OTH discharge.
I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore.
He’s been fired right or at least on permanent desk duty. Tell me this idiot isn’t a marine anymore.
Why isn’t he in prison, not only he did he break the law and try and overthrow the legitimate government of the United States but he did so while being military personnel.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she can’t fathom why Dodge Hellonen violated his oath to protect the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” — and risked his career — by joining the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that disrupted Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory.
The three Marines — friends from the same unit — drove together from a military post in Virginia to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when then-President Donald Trump spoke at his “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House.
Reyes said it “carried a great deal of weight” to learn that Hellonen maintained a positive attitude and stellar work ethic when he was effectively demoted after the Jan. 6 attack.
Hellonen, Coomer and Abate pleaded guilty earlier this year to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of six months behind bars.
Coomer bragged on social media about taking part in “history,” called for a “fresh start” and said he was “waiting for the boogaloo,” a slang term for a second civil war in the U.S.
He worked at the Marine Corps Information Operations Center as a signals intelligence analyst and was promoted to the rank of sergeant in August 2021, said his attorney, Halerie Costello.
The original article contains 902 words, the summary contains 212 words. Saved 76%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
If he was working in signals analysis he was likely cleared at the secret or top secret levels and could have very easily leveraged his experience into a super lucrative job in intelligence work or communications after his military service. This sentence and the discharge from service has probably eliminated the chances of that.
Insufficient. He should be in the slammer until his grandkids are old enough to be ashamed; if not executed
All three need to be blanket partied 279 times.
Military courts will fuck these guys up.
