A Camp Pendleton Marine who took part in the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Tuesday to four years of probation and 279 hours of community service, with each hour representing every Marine killed or wounded in the Civil War.
Micah Coomer pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Coomer was 21 years old at the time he and two other active-duty Marines entered the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Coomer's co-defendant Dodge Hellonen was sentenced Monday to the same probation and community service terms as Coomer. Another, co-defendant, Joshua Abate, is slated to be sentenced on Wednesday.
Prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Coomer and his co-defendants "joined with other rioters in provocative chants which further riled up the mob and was a rallying cry to continue the riot" and "were inside the Rotunda when other rioters engaged in aggressive physical skirmishes with police."
Coomer later made statements on social media that he was "[g]lad to be apart [sic] of history" and said he was "waiting for the boogaloo" which he explained to another social media user meant "Civil war 2," according to the memorandum.
Coomer was arrested this January at the NCIS office in Oceanside and pleaded guilty in April.
Prosecutors, who sought a 30-day custodial sentence for Coomer, wrote in their papers that "Coomer's post-Jan. 6 statement that he was hoping for a second civil war to topple what he viewed as a `corrupt' government was deeply ominous given that his military training and access to military weapons would make him a particularly effective participant in such a war against the government."
Regarding all three Marines, prosecutors wrote: "While defendants' military service is laudable, it renders their conduct on Jan. 6 all the more troubling."
A defense attorney for Coomer, Phillip Stackhouse, wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Coomer and his two friends followed others into the Capitol. The memorandum describes his social media messages as "reeking of bluster and perceived swagger — and he is embarrassed by them and remorseful."
