The seriousness of the Capitol kerfuffle is revealed in the fact that the feds are charging most with just misdemeanors. The bias of the Lexington Herald-Leader is revealed in how they played up the story.

Fired Kentucky nurse, husband plead guilty in Capitol riot case. Sentencing next.

By Jeremy Chisenhall | July 28, 2021 | 01:46 PM | Updated 1:52 PM EDT

A Kentucky couple who were at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in Washington, D.C., have pleaded guilty to participating and face a maximum punishment of six months in prison, according to federal court records filed Tuesday.

Thomas and Lori Vinson, who were arrested on Feb. 23 and charged with participating in the riot and other related crimes, have each pleaded guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol Building, according to plea agreements filed in federal court. In addition to a maximum prison time of six months, the two defendants could also face a fine of up to $5,000.

The Vinsons have each agreed to pay $500 in restitution after admitting to participating in the riot which caused more than $1.4 million worth of damage to the U.S. Capitol, according to court records.

There’s more at the original, including photos of the couple.

Lori Vinson provided this photo of herself and Thomas Ray Vinson outside the U.S. Capitol to a local news station, according to the FBI. Photo via an FBI Statement of facts.

We have previously noted the McClatchy Mugshot Policy, and the Herald-Leader’s very biased choices in making exceptions to it. The paper decided against publishing mugshots of two black accused murderers on the loose, but has been perfectly willing to publish photos of white criminal suspects who are already un custody.

And so we have the photo to the right of Lori and Thomas Vinson. Yes, they have now been convicted, but the Herald-Leader published the same photo in their story of their arrest, before they were convicted of anything.

The McClatchy Mugshot Policy is:

Publishing mugshots of arrestees has been shown to have lasting effects on both the people photographed and marginalized communities. The permanence of the internet can mean those arrested but not convicted of a crime have the photograph attached to their names forever. Beyond the personal impact, inappropriate publication of mugshots disproportionately harms people of color and those with mental illness. In fact, some police departments have started moving away from taking/releasing mugshots as a routine part of their procedures.

To address these concerns, McClatchy will not publish crime mugshots — online, or in print, from any newsroom or content-producing team — unless approved by an editor. To be clear, this means that in addition to photos accompanying text stories, McClatchy will not publish “Most wanted” or “Mugshot galleries” in slide-show, video or print.

Any exception to this policy must be approved by an editor. Editors considering an exception should ask:

• Is there an urgent threat to the community?
• Is this person a public official or the suspect in a hate crime?
• Is this a serial killer suspect or a high-profile crime?

If an exception is made, editors will need to take an additional step with the Pub Center to confirm publication by making a note in the ‘package notes‘ field in Sluglife.

Clearly the Vinsons are not urgent threats to the community, nor public officials, nor suspects in hate crimes, nor serial killers. A high-profile crime? The credentialed media would have you think so, but in the initial story on the Vinsons, the Herald-Leader listed the charges they faced:

Their charges include knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct which impedes the conduct of government business, disruptive conduct in the Capitol buildings, and parading, demonstrating or picketing the Capitol buildings.

Translation: not much of a much. No violence was alleged, nor any destruction of property by the Vinsons.

And it wound up being not much of a much; the Department of Justice allowed them to plead down to a single misdemeanor charge. The first person sentenced on this charge for her part in the Capitol kerfuffle received that $500 restitution, and probation. Another was sentenced to six months in jail, but since the feds had denied him bail, he was released with time served.

Perhaps if the Herald-Leader and the federal government were going after the #BlackLivesMatter rioters, who rioted through our cities, burning and looting, destroying people’s property and places of employment, and causing a couple dozen deaths, throughout most of last summer — the Capitol kerfuffle was over in a few hours — I’d think that they were really interested in the punishment of crime, but that’s not what they did. When two of the BLM protesters were sentenced to a year in jail for assault during those protests, crimes more serious than those of which the Vinsons pleaded guilty, the Herald-Leader chose not to print their mugshots.^[1]Though the initial article noted that Judge Thomas Travis said he would consider ‘shock probation’ for the two malefactors, but in checking the Fayette County Detention Center’s … Continue reading

Of course, President Biden wants to punish those who disagree with him, and Attorney General Merrick Garland is still outraged that Republicans denied him a seat on the Supreme Court. But the Capitol kerfuffle was far, far less serious than the #BlackLivesMatter riots last summer. The next Republican President, who will, we hope, be inaugurated on January 25, 2025, should issue blanket pardons for all of them.