The American man, who believed in conspiracy theories and threatened to kill Pelosi, was sentenced to 28 months in prison

According to the US Chinese Network, on the 14th local time, a US judge announced that Cleveland Meredith Jr., a man in Georgia who had threatened to kill The Speaker of the House of Representatives Pelosi after the Congressional riots, was sentenced to 28 months in prison. Previously, the man had pleaded guilty to sending violent threatening communications.

Data chart: Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress and Democrat. Photo by Chen Mengtong, a reporter of China News Service

On January 6, 2020, Meredith reportedly missed a riot in the U.S. Congress due to a car breakdown, but on Jan. 7 his mother reported the violent text messages she sent to the FBI. Meredith thus became one of those accused of being linked to riots in the Capitol.

Agents found Meredith in a hotel a mile from the Capitol, hiding thousands of rounds of ammunition, a pistol and a submachine gun in his trailer.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said it was by no means a patriotic move. The 11 months that Meredith has spent in prison counts toward his sentence.

Multiple people in the United States have been prosecuted for threatening members of Congress, with Meredith being the second to be sentenced on related charges. Many of these defendants, including Meredith, believe in conspiracy theories and claims of election fraud.

According to the plea deal, Meredith texted a friend the day after the riots saying he was considering attending an event for Pelosi and "giving her a shot in the head on live television." In other messages, Meredith said he might have shot the mayor of Washington.

Meredith also wrote: "I predict that many people in our country will die within the next 12 days." When a Meredith relative confronted him about the text messages, Meredith said he was "just joking."

Meredith said: "I lost control that day and if I scared mp Pelosi, I apologised to her. He vowed to go through psychotherapy after his release from prison and said he would "not get involved in politics again."

Meredith's parents and two close friends spoke on behalf of the family at the hearing, proving that he was not such a person before and how he was radicalized by falling into the "QAnon" conspiracy theory.

Meredith's father, Cleveland Meredith Sr., said his son was "fooled by QAnon" and that if he could shake off that belief, he would be a completely different person. Meredith's mother said she reported her son to the FBI because she believed "we are saving other people's lives."

Source: China News Network