South Jersey father and son sentenced to probation for role in Capitol riot

A father and son duo from South Jersey railed against the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to charge hundreds nonviolent Jan. 6 Capitol rioters as they were both sentenced on Friday to probation for illegally entering the building as part of the mob.

David Krauss, 56, and his son Nicholas Krauss, 32, both of Gloucester County, maintained they didn’t attack police, didn’t destroy property, left the Capitol as soon as officers told them to while the building was overrun by a crowd of angry supporters of former President Donald Trump.

And yet both men have been convicted of federal charges that weren’t lodged against other demonstrators who disrupted congressional proceedings or illegally entered the building in earlier protests on behalf progressive causes, their attorney Marina Medvin contended during a hearing in Washington before U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg.

“The only difference between the nonviolent January 6 protesters and [the others],” she wrote in court papers filed in advance of Friday’s sentencing, “is politics.”

Boasberg balked at that comparison, sentencing both men to nine months probation. However, he credited the fact that neither man had been charged with a crime before. The sentence he eventually imposed — which also included an order they each pay $1,500 in fines and restitution — was significantly less than the three months house arrest prosecutors had sought for David Krauss and 2½ months house arrest they sought for his son.

» READ MORE: A Philly police contractor was let go for allegedly attacking cops during Jan. 6 Capitol riot

Conservative accusations of political bias in the charging decisions surrounding Jan. 6 are nothing new. And for the most part the federal judges in Washington have roundly rebuffed such reasoning from the more than 1,100 people charged so far with playing roles in the riot.

Broadly, the judges have concluded that the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on Congress was a historic attack on the nation’s government — one that left scores of officers injured, caused more than $3 million in damage, and threatened the peaceful transfer of presidential power as lawmakers gathered to certify President Joe Biden’s victory.

Prosecutors have argued — as they did in the Krausses case — that even nonviolent members of the mob contributed to the chaos and their sheer numbers emboldened more aggressive rioters who overran security barriers, brawled with cops, or smashed windows and doors.

“The court must consider that [the] defendant’s conduct … took place in the context of a large and violent riot that relied on numbers to overwhelm police officers who were trying to prevent the breach of the Capitol building, and disrupt the proceedings,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolina Nevin wrote in a presentencing brief.

The Krausses, who manage their own rental property company with over 40 properties in South Jersey, traveled to Washington on Jan. 6 with a friend — Russell Dodge Jr., 44, of Pedricktown, N.J. — to attend a rally in support of Trump near the Washington Monument.

All three were among the first wave of rioters to later breach the Senate Wing Doors of the Capitol building.

All three maintained there were no guards by the doors to stop them when they entered. They spent roughly 17 minutes inside, they said, and left when officers ordered them to go.

» READ MORE: South Jersey pickup artist and ‘relationship strategist’ gets four years in Capitol riot case

David and Nicholas Krauss would later tell investigators that they tried to deter rioters who were destroying property.

The Krausses and Dodge pleaded guilty to charges of illegally demonstrating inside the Capitol building — a misdemeanor count punishable by up to a year in prison — in May. Dodge received the same probationary sentence as the Krausses Friday.

But Medvin, the Krausses’ attorney, noted in court that the DOJ has routinely erred on the side of letting local authorities handle charges for conduct similar to theirs.

For instance, the defense lawyer noted, nearly 1,200 people were arrested during demonstrations that occasionally interrupted the 2018 Senate confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Only one faced federal charges.

That man had to be dragged out of the Senate chamber by officers after he stood on a chair and began shouting during the hearings. Prosecutors later withdrew the case.

The others were let go with $50 fines assessed by D.C. Metro police.

Medvin also argued that the Justice Department opted only to charge demonstrators accused of violent crimes like assaulting police or torching cop cars during the racial justice protests that proliferated throughout the United States after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. Charges for nonviolent offenses were left to local authorities.

“This wildly inequitable and disparate treatment is inexplicable in any way other than political bias,” she wrote.

She urged Boasberg to let her clients go with a small fine, like the demonstrators in the Kavanaugh hearings.

» READ MORE: Philly Amtrak employee pleads guilty to storming the Capitol on Jan. 6

Yet, prosecutors rejected those comparisons, noting that neither of the demonstrations Medvin cited were analogous to what had occurred on Jan. 6.

The Kavanaugh protests did not result in significant damage to the Capitol building, serious injuries to any officers, or the evacuation of the House and Senate chambers. Most Floyd protests did not occur on federal property and did not threaten the functioning of the government.

For their parts, both father and son expressed regret.

“Unfortunately, I found myself caught up in something I never intended to,” Nicholas Krauss wrote in a letter addressed to the judge. “I regret entering the Capitol on this day and I am deeply sorry that I did.”