American far-right anti-Semitic activist Anthime “Tim” Gionet, better known on social media as “Baked Alaska,” pleaded guilty Friday to joining the mob that stormed the US Capitol, where he broadcast a video live that framed him and other troublemakers, according to a court filing.
Gionet faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading, rallying or picketing inside a Capitol building.
US District Judge Emmet Sullivan is scheduled to sentence Gionet on January 12, 2023.
The judge had scheduled a trial for March 2023 for Gionet after he refused to plead guilty during an earlier hearing. Sullivan refused to accept a guilty plea from Anthime Gionet in May after he pleaded not guilty at the start of what was scheduled to be a plea deal hearing.
At the start of Friday’s virtual hearing, defense attorney Zachary Thornley told the judge that a protester was outside Gionet’s Florida home and was recording the proceedings over the phone, a violation of court rules.
“Protest what?” the judge asked.
“I guess him as a person,” Thornley replied.
The judge ordered court staff to cut the phone line, preventing the public from hearing Gionet plead guilty.
Two of Gionet’s attorneys did not immediately return calls for comment after the hearing.
After entering the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Gionet broadcast a live video showing him inside the building repeatedly encouraging other protesters to remain there.
“Ahead. Let’s go. Ahead. Make yourselves at home,” Gionet told other rioters, according to a court filing accompanying his guilty plea. Gionet joined others in chanting: “The Patriots are in control!” and “Whose house? Our house!” Before leaving, he profanely called a police officer an “oath breaker,” the FBI said.
Federal authorities have used Gionet’s video to prosecute other rioters, including three men from New York City. Antonio Ferrigno, Francis Connor and Anton Lunyk pleaded guilty in April to riot-related charges. Gionet’s live feed showed them in Sen. Jeff Merkley’s office, according to court documents accompanying their plea agreements.
Gionet worked at BuzzFeed before using social media to build an online following in far-right political circles. Defense attorney Zachary Thornley said Gionet “has been a member of the press for a long time.”
“His actions the day many people entered the Capitol were no less than he has always done. He filmed it. That is what he does,” Thornley wrote in a court filing last year.
Prosecutors disputed Gionet’s claim that he is a member of the media.
Gionet became known for posting videos in which he tries to prank or trick his targets. He also has a history of promoting far-right extremism. He was scheduled to speak at the white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in 2017 before violence erupted on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia.
Major internet platforms, including Twitter, suspended Gionet’s accounts before January 6. On Capitol Hill, he was streaming live video using a fringe service called DLive.
Others accused of rioting on Capitol Hill have claimed they were acting as journalists, not insurgents.
Infowars host Jonathan Owen Shroyer has asked a judge to dismiss his riot charges. Shroyer’s attorney argues that the Justice Department is prosecuting him for his constitutionally protected “rights to protest, speak freely, and report the news.” Prosecutors counter that the First Amendment does not protect Shroyer’s conduct on Capitol Hill.
Gionet, who grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested in Houston less than two weeks after the riots. She moved from Arizona to Florida after her arrest.
In January, Gionet was sentenced to 30 days in jail for misdemeanor charges stemming from a December 2020 encounter in which authorities say he pepper-sprayed an employee at a bar in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Gionet’s plea agreement includes a provision allowing investigators to review any of his social media accounts for posts from around the time of the Capitol riots.
Gionet, known for promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, is also suspected of defacing a Hanukkah menorah in Arizona in 2020. “No more ‘Happy Hanukkah,’ just ‘Merry Christmas.’ This is a shame,” Gionet said in images that circulated online.
Baked Alaska (Anthime Gionet) is now finally facing charges in connection with the vandalism of a Hanukkah exhibit in Phoenix last winter. The video of the incident posted on Reddit has been removed, but here is a copy I saved. https://t.co/iqBKGHud7W pic.twitter.com/Pdb0g9AN2g
— Erasmus Baxter (@baxter_eh) November 20, 2021
Gionet has been banned from several social media sites for posting anti-Semitic content, including tweeting the 14-word white supremacist mantra “We must ensure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” Gizmodo reported.
