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On December 7, a former California police chief named Alan Hostetter was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riot. He represented himself at his trial.
The police officer turned yoga teacher was found guilty of multiple felonies, including bringing a dangerous and deadly weapon (hatchet) into Capitol premises, conspiring to obstruct Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory, and disorderly conduct, as per NPR.
Alan Hostetter is set to self-report to federal prison by January 5, 2024, around the 3rd anniversary of the riot. However, he told reporters on Thursday that he will appeal his conviction, according to Wusa 9.
In the wake of his sentencing, focus has fallen on his wife, Kristine Hostetter, who was also present during the January 6 riot. So far, she has not been convicted.
Alan Hostetter is married to a fourth-grade teacher
Alan Hostetter’s wife, Kristine Hostetter, is a fourth-grade teacher at Vista Del Mar Elementary School in Orange County, California, according to The Slate.
The news outlet’s April 2021 article also reported that following her participation in the January 6 Capitol Riot, there was a petition in her community to ask for an investigation into her. However, around the same time, a counterpetition emerged in support of her.
Meanwhile, during an interview with Slate, New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg, who covered the Capitol Riot live, stated that initially, Kristine was away from her husband’s sociopolitical activities, such as his anti-Covid-19 restriction marches.
However, she eventually got involved and even set up a GoFundMe page to help with her husband’s legal fees when he was arrested while vandalizing a blockage meant to close off San Clemente Beach during the pandemic.
Rosenberg also confirmed that Kristine was part of Alan Hostetter’s The American Phoenix Project, which branded his protests and lawsuits and was dedicated to “standing guard against enemies of the constitution in its original form,” as per its official website.
She was one of the activists of the far-right non-profit group and accosted people who wore masks during the pandemic. She was even put on administrative leave for her actions, but later resumed her role when it was found out by school-appointed investigators that she did not do anything illegal.
Exploring, in brief, Alan Hostetter’s involvement in the January 6 Riot
According to CBS News, Alan Hostetter was sentenced to 11 years in prison for his involvement in the January 6, 2021 Capitol Riot, on Thursday. As per the Justice Department, he was a “terrorist” who drove from California to Washington, D.C., ahead of the riot “so that he could load his car with weapons.”
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors stated that Alan joined others on the morning of the siege and carried “tactical gear, a helmet, hatchets, knives, stun batons, pepper spray, and other gear for himself and others.” They also added that Hostetter attended the march at the White House Ellipse before going inside the Capitol with a hatchet still inside his backpack.
Aside from taking over the lower terrace on the west side of the Capitol, he also gave a speech addressing the crowd, yelling, “Hundreds of thousands of patriots showed up today to take back their government!”
Convicted of multiple felony charges, before Thursday’s hearing, Alan Hostetter continued to defend himself in the courtroom, saying that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” and asserting that the Capitol Riot was a “false flag” operation carried out by the federal government.
CBS News also reported that he alleged that the mob comprised “hundreds, if not thousands,” of “crisis actors" who were part of a “set-up” by the government.
Regardless, Judge Royce Lamberth, who convicted him in July, sentenced him to 135 months in prison and handed down one of the longest sentences among nearly 1200 Capitol Riot cases to date. He even stated that “the First Amendment doesn’t give anybody the right to obstruct, impede, or carry weapons into restricted areas.”
One of his co-defendants, Russell Taylor, provided key testimony in the Hostetter case and said they both planned the siege together and confirmed carrying weapons.
As per NPR reports, Alan Hostetter served in the U.S. Army in the 1980s and was stationed in Germany before returning to the country and joining the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and later becoming a police chief of La Habra, California. He retired from his law enforcement duties, allegedly due to spinal issues, and became a yoga instructor and sound healer in San Clemente.
