Rep. Tim Ryan on Capitol Rioters Being Sentenced: ‘This Is Not a Time for Mercy’

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) reacted to the sentencing of Capitol rioter Scott Fairlamb to 41 months in prison on Wednesday, saying, “This is not a time for mercy.” The New Jersey gym owner punched a police officer on January 6th and pleaded guilty to the assault in August.

Tearing up, Fairlamb asked a U.S. District Court Royce Lamberth for mercy. But the judge called Fairlamb’s actions and the riot “an affront to society and to the law.”

Speaking with Ryan, O’Donnell said, “We heard a request for mercy today and we heard the judge say, given what this crime was, it was impossible for him to go below the [sentencing] guidelines. And going below the guidelines is a judge’s form of mercy in these cases.”

“You know, I don’t see it,” replied Ryan. “I was there on the sixth… my buddies were up in the chamber. We saw what the cops went through. This is not a time for mercy. This is a time for justice. And justice is being served. We have to set a standard here of how unacceptable this behavior is. The problem too now, Lawrence, is we have candidates that are now running for political office in support of what happened on January 6th. I mean, I’m running here for the Senate in Ohio and we’ve got, you know, Republicans that are running out here that are saying that that was ok.”

Later in the segment O’Donnell asked Ryan about the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill which. most Republicans voted against.

“We gotta be firm,” said Ryan. “Democrats are never accused of being always on message or having a concise message. So we’ve to get our act together about who has done this. We find these Republicans–they’re pro-insurrection and anti-infrastructure.”

Watch above via MSNBC.