A Georgia congressional candidate convicted of a misdemeanor for illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, walked out of a televised debate with a fellow Republican on Sunday ahead of a June 18 primary runoff.

It was the latest volatile turn in southwest Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, where Chuck Hand and Wayne Johnson are competing for the GOP nomination to take on 16-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop in November.

Hand is one of at least four people convicted of Jan. 6 crimes running for Congress this year, all as Republicans. He was sentenced to 20 days in federal prison and six months of probation.

Nixon brought up a 2005 criminal trespass charge and a 2010 DUI charge against Hand, both of which were dismissed. Nixon also cited federal court documents to argue Hand’s participation in the Jan. 6 riot was more serious than Hand had claimed.

“This is where I get back in my truck and go back to southwest Georgia because I’ve got two races to win,” Hand said, walking out of the studio while cameras were rolling.

  • Pistcow
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    55 months ago

    No, they can have their day in court and defend themselves with all available options, 100%.

    Once convicted, they need a little more than community service and a fine. Loss of citizenship seems fine. I really don’t think you understand the severity of what went on and that they’ll do it again this election because the penalty wasn’t harsh enough to deter them from repeating.

    • Nougat
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      5 months ago

      Once convicted, they need a little more than community service and a fine.

      Lots of people convicted because of their actions on J6 are in prison right now. Approximately 467 of the 749 charged federally, which is more than half. I am also aware that Judge Chutkan sentenced some offenders with more lengthy prison sentences than the prosecution was seeking.

      Loss of citizenship seems fine.

      That’s not a thing. You can’t just “make someone stateless.” Denaturalization can only happen for a handful of reasons, and those only apply to naturalized citizens (that being people who were not born into citizenship, but acquired it after immigrating to the US from elsewhere).

      I really don’t think you understand …

      Cute of you to think you know me.