‘KEEP AMERICA AMERICA’

Ex-Cop-Turned-Yogi Who Rioted at Capitol Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison

Alan Hostetter made a lengthy speech at his sentencing hearing in which he referred to Jan. 6 as an “obvious setup” and suggested the death of Ashli Babbitt was “a psy-op.”

A former California police chief turned yoga instructor, conspiracy theorist, and Jan. 6 defendant was sentenced Thursday to 11 years and three months in federal prison, even as he continued to insist that the Capitol riot was an “obvious setup.” Alan Hostetter, 58, was found guilty in July of four felony charges, including conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and carrying a dangerous or deadly weapon on Capitol grounds. Described by prosecutors as the leader of the so-called “D.C. Brigade,” a group of rioters that conspired to bring tactical gear to the Capitol in Jan. 2021, Hostetter became an outspoken far-right activist in the months before the riot, protesting COVID-19 mandates and calling for the execution of Donald Trump’s enemies. In a December speech cited by prosecutors, Hostetter told a crowd, “Choke that city off, fill it with patriots… We either fix this mess and keep America America, or we become traitors, and those five million people outside the walls are gonna drag us out by our hair and tie us to a fucking lamppost. That’s their option.” In a lengthy speech ahead of his sentencing Thursday, Hostetter claimed the rioting crowd had been filled with “crisis actors” and that Ashli Babbitt was still alive. “I believe that was a psy-op,” he said of her fatal shooting. “That was staged.”