B4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 , 2021
be with his dad in his final days.
“Thinking back on the
sacrifices my family made, the
stress, the uncertainty and the
fear they and so many other
military families felt, paid family
and medical leave would have
been an immense relief while
deployed,” said Marquez, who is
leading a veterans group in
fighting for civilian leave. “This
policy could be a real difference-
maker in the lives of our men and
women who serve.”
If you’ve ever hashtagged
#supportthetroops, shook hands
at a veterans pancake breakfast
or cheered loudly when the
wounded warriors raised their
hands from a complimentary
seat at the ballgame, this one’s for
you:
Want to say you support our
troops? Support their troops at
home, too.
[email protected]
Twitter: @petuladpercent unemployment rate
among military spouses. Paid
family leave can do it, she said.
If it is passed as part of the bill,
every American worker could get
four weeks of paid family and
medical leave starting in 2024,
thanks to $200 billion in federal
funding.
“There are a lot of initiatives to
get military spouses hired, but we
also need to look at how to keep
them retained in their jobs,”
Hoppin said.
Preparing for deployments
and returns, caring for sick
family members and taking all of
that on by themselves kills off
those spouses’ careers.
Aaron Marquez, 38, was an
Army officer when his father’s
battle with cancer began. The
military gave him leave to care
for his dad. But once Marquez
retired and became a reservist in
2016, he didn’t have paid family
leave to support taking time off topro-military or pro-veteran.”
That’s the point these vets are
making — holistic support of the
military includes some social
safety nets that hard-right
America sees as squishy, softy
socialism. So much for all the talk
about love of families and
freedom.
Her husband’s 22 years in the
Air Force would’ve been much
easier on Sue Hoppin if our
nation had paid family leave for
her in those rough years of
deployments and moves.
It was hard to find child care, a
new job, the best dentist every
time they moved — which is
every 18 months, on average, for
military families, said Hoppin,
52, of Springfield, Va.
Once her husband retired,
Hoppin founded and now runs
the National Military Spouse
Network to address the hurdles
she faced for two decades. No. 1
on her list is shrinking the 22whose families were devastated
by what it took to care for them
once they returned home.
“An all-volunteer force wasn’t
constructed with working
spouses in mind,” said Virginia
Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax), 40,
a lieutenant colonel in the Army
Reserve, U.S. Military Academy
graduate and veteran of multiple
deployments on active duty.
Helmer’s not flexing with guns
or talking tough about our
nation’s military might to win
over his constituents in a district
heavy with military families.
Instead, he’s focusing on social
welfare reforms to help those
families out.
“If you want to take care of
these people... but don’t do
anything for the spouses, for the
dual-income families to help
them make it,” Helmer said, it’s
hard to “consider yourself to beDVORAK FROM B1PETULA DVORAKCivilian paid family leave will help military familiesBY KATIE METTLER
AND PETER HERMANNThe Prince George’s County
police’s internal affairs division
is i nvestigating a car chase that
began in the county, ended in the
District and left a man dead
Sunday night.
Police said the man, Isiah
Smith, 28, of Southeast Washing-
ton, w as trying to flee a traffic
stop when his vehicle crashed in
Northeast Washington’s North
Michigan Park neighborhood,
just across the c ounty line.The chase, county police said,
lasted less than a minute and
started when an officer spotted a
silver Acura driving “in an erratic
manner” in unincorporated
Hyattsville. Just before 11 p.m.,
the officer attempted to pull the
driver over, police said, and he
initially stopped.
But when the officer ap-
proached the Acura, the car sped
away, authorities said.
The officer returned to his
patrol vehicle and, lights activat-
ed, began to chase the Acura,
police said. In compliance withPrince George’s County protocol
for police pursuits, the depart-
ment said, the officer “broadcast-
ed” the Acura’s license plate in-
formation over the police radio
to determine whether the vehicle
was connected to a serious crime.
Another officer looked up the
license plate information and
said the tags did not belong to the
Acura — so the supervisor then
called off the chase, police said.
At the same time, county offi-
cials said, Smith lost control of
the Acura and crashed into a tree
at Michigan Avenue and BunkerHill Road NE. Prince George’s
officers “attempted to render
aid” to Smith, but he died at the
scene, police said. His body was
taken to the D.C. medical exam-
iner’s office.
The county officer who pur-
sued Smith has been placed on
administrative leave, per depart-
ment protocol, as internal affairs
investigates his handling of the
traffic stop.
D.C. police are handling the
crash investigation.
[email protected]
[email protected]THE REGIONPolice: Man dies in crash after fleeing tra∞c stopBY EMILY DAVIES
AND TOM JACKMANThe Florida man charged with
taking the lectern of House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and parad-
ing it around the Capitol on Jan. 6
reached a plea agreement with
prosecutors.
Adam Johnson, 36, pleaded
guilty in federal court Monday to
entering and remaining in a re-
stricted building or grounds, a
charge that comes with a maxi-
mum sentence of one year in prison
and a fine of $100,000. In exchange,
prosecutors agreed to dismiss
charges of theft of government
property and violent entry and dis-
orderly conduct on Capitol
grounds.
The agreement also included
provisions around a potential book,
or “something of that nature,” that
Johnson has expressed interest in
publishing about his involvement
on Jan. 6. The plea deal gives the
government rights to any profit
that Johnson acquires as a result of
that product for five years. The par-
ties agreed on sentencing guide-
lines ranging from zero to six
months in prison, with fines be-
tween $500 and $9,500. The gov-
ernment did not request that John-
son be held before sentencing.
Johnson was one of the most
visible Jan. 6 defendants after im-
ages of him posing for photographs
while cradling the lectern went vi-
ral. U.S. District J udge Reggie B.
Walton allowed Johnson to remain
in Florida before sentencing, but he
made it clear Monday that the de-
fendant would have to prove that
he understood the gravity of his
actions to avoid time behind bars.
“It’s very concerning to me that
you were weak-minded enough
that you would follow a lie and do
what you did,” Walton said. “So why
shouldn’t I lock you up, sir? Why
should I think you won’t do this
again?”
“I’ve spent a lot of time listening
to a lot of information, reading a lot
of things, and I think maybe your
assessment is accurate that I got
caught up in a moment,” Johnson
replied.
Johnson traveled to the District
from Tampa on Jan. 5 to attend a
rally in support of President Don-
ald Trump the next day, according
to the statement of offense filed in
court. He was part of the crowd that
marched from the rally to the Capi-
tol, witnessed clashes between po-
lice officers and rioters, and, even-
tually, entered the Senate wing
door to the Capitol, prosecutors
said.
Once in the Capitol, according to
the court filing, Johnson posed
near a sign that read “Closed to all
tours” and later posted the image
on Facebook, along with the cap-
tion “No.” He later found the podi-
um for the House speaker near a
spiral staircase and carried it to the
Capitol Rotunda, where he posed
for a picture before a photographer
with a professional camera and
asked another woman to take pic-
tures of him standing in front of the
podium using his phone, according
to the court filing.
He left the podium in the center
of the room and continued to wan-
der through the building — wit-
nessing a group of protesters stand-
ing behind a line of U.S. Capitol
Police officers and another group
banging against doors and chant-
ing “stop the steal,” the court filing
said. At one point, prosecutors al-
leged, Johnson shouted that the
bust of George Washington would
be “a great battering ram.”
“Your honor, I understand that
my actions are regretful,” Johnson
said in court Monday. “I’m here
pleading guilty because I am guilty.”
Also Monday, a Pennsylvania
man who organized charter buses
for 200 people to attend the events
on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 60 days
in jail, when prosecutors had only
sought 14 days in jail. It was the
largest increase in sentence by a
judge so far, 46 days, above what the
government had sought, according
to a sentencing grid filed by pros-
ecutors in the case.
U.S. District Judge Royce C.
Lamberth also imposed the maxi-
mum $5,000 fine, which is the larg-
est o ne yet imposed in a Jan. 6 case,
according to the government’s sen-
tencing chart.
Lamberth said he gave Frank J.
Scavo, 59, of Old Forge, Pa., credit
for being truthful with the FBI,
pleading guilty relatively early in
the case, and not harming anyone.
The organizing of buses from Penn-
sylvania was not discussed in the
hearing, but the judge noted that
“without you and the other people
who participated in this, this whole
event, that ended up in preventing
the government from being able to
function, would not have hap-
pened” and that had to be weighed
in the sentence.
“I can’t imagine entering a gov-
ernment building that is closed to
the public, but I did,” Scavo said.
“Entering the Capitol on January
6 was a crime. I regret doing it.”
[email protected]
[email protected]THE DISTRICT
Man with lectern in
J an. 6 image pleads guilty
Agreement includes
provisions about profits
from a potential book
BY PAUL DUGGANHenry “Enrique” Tarrio, a na-
tional leader of the far-right
group the Proud Boys, has been
denied early release from the
D.C. jail by a judge who ruled that
poor living conditions in the
facility are not sufficient reason
for Tarrio to be transferred to
home confinement.
In a written ruling Friday
night, D.C. Superior Court Judge
Jonathan H. Pittman said he
largely believed Tarrio’s allega-
tions, made at a Nov. 15 hearing,
about experiencing unsanitary
conditions and mistreatment at
the jail. The judge noted that the
D.C. Department of Corrections
“admits that much of what the
defendant has claimed did in fact
occur.”
But after reviewing Tarrio’s
three legal arguments for being
let out of jail, Pittman said each
argument fell short.
Tarrio, 37, has served about
half of a five-month term for two
crimes, including setting fire to astolen Black Lives Matter banner
late last year during a tumultu-
ous demonstration in Washing-
ton after the election defeat of
President Donald Trump. Au-
thorities said members of the
Proud Boys group, which has a
history of violence, stole the ban-
ner from a historic Black church
in the city.
At the hour-long hearing Nov.
15, Tarrio and his attorney said
Tarrio has endured abuse by jail
staff members, unhealthy living
conditions, poor food and a lack
of medical care. The complaints
echoed the findings of a surprise
inspection of the facility last
month by the U.S. Marshals Serv-ice, which listed numerous “sys-
temic failures” at the 45-year-old
jail in Southeast Washington.
In seeking transfer to home
confinement, Tarrio said his
Eighth Amendment right against
cruel and unusual punishments
was being violated at the jail.
But Pittman said an Eighth
Amendment claim would have to
be litigated in a lawsuit, with
evidence and testimony, and not
at a hastily scheduled, 60-minute
hearing.
Even if Tarrio prevailed in
such a lawsuit, the “appropriate
remedy for unconstitutional con-
ditions of confinement is correc-
tion of the unconstitutional con-
ditions of confinement, which
are experienced by all inmates,
not just the defendant,” Pittman
said in his decision, issued short-
ly after 11 p.m. Friday.
In addition, Tarrio sought re-
lease under a Superior Court rule
that allows a judge to reduce a
sentence after it has been im-
posed. But Pittman said the rule
does not apply to sentences, like
Tarrio’s, that are under appeal.
Tarrio also asked to be freed
under the District’s “compassion-
ate release” statute, but the judge
said Tarrio “fails to establish that
his case presents ‘extraordinary
and compelling reasons’ war-
ranting a modification,” whichthe statute requires.
Most of the roughly 1,500 in-
mates at the jail, including Tar-
rio, have local criminal cases in
Superior Court. But several hun-
dred others have federal cases in
U.S. District Court. The findings
of the surprise inspection
prompted the Justice Depart-
ment to announce that 400 fed-
eral prisoners would be trans-
ferred from the jail to the U.S.
penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa., a
process that authorities said has
begun.
The Marshals Service and the
D.C. government signed a legal
document Nov. 9 in which they
agreed to work together to im-
prove conditions at the jail.
The BLM banner that Tarrio
admitted burning was stolen
Dec. 12, 2020, from Asbury Unit-
ed Methodist Church, at 11th and
K streets NW, as far-right pro-
testers marched in support of
Trump’s effort to falsely delegiti-
mize President Biden’s election
victory.
After pleading guilty to de-
struction of property and to a
charge of attempted possession
of a high-capacity ammunition
magazine, Tarrio was sentenced
to 155 days behind bars. He
reported to the jail Sept. 6 to
begin serving his time.
[email protected]THE DISTRICTJudge denies early release for Proud Boys leaderMember of far-right
group had cited poor
conditions at D.C. jailJOHN RUDOFF
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGESHenry “Enrique” TarrioBY PETER HERMANNAuthorities in the District an-
nounced Monday the temporary
expansion of a monetary reward
aimed at helping police find and
seize untraceable “ghost guns”
made from home kits, as well as
firearms that are modified to fire
as fully automatic.
The reward — which now can
reach $ 7,500 with the addition of
federal funding — is linked to po-
lice recovering a firearm and mak-
ing an arrest, but it no longer re-
quires a conviction.
Officials said at a news confer-
ence that they hope these new
incentives will lead to more tips
and the recovery of more illegal
firearms, and to fewer shootings.
The change comes as homicides
are rising in the District for the
fourth consecutive year.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said
D.C. police have taken more than
2,000 illegal guns off the streets
this year, more than in the entirety
of 2020.
“Unfortunately, there are still a
lot of them out there,” Bowser said
at the news conference at Crispus
Attucks Park in Northwest Wash-
ington’s Bloomingdale neighbor-
hood. “We want to get them before
someone uses them to kill some-
body else.”
D.C. has traditionally offered
$2,500 rewards for tips that lead to
illegal firearms, though receiving
the money had been contingent on
an arrest and prosecution.
On Monday, Charlie J. Patter-
son, the special agent in charge of
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives’ Wash-
ington field office, said his agency
is adding $5,000 to the District’s
reward.
To qualify for the bonus, the tip
must lead to the seizure of a “ghost
gun” — such firearms do not have
serial numbers, making them
nearly impossible to trace to previ-
ous owners or to other crimes — or
the seizure of a gun equipped with
an auto sear, sometimes called a
“giggle switch,” that can be in-
stalled in trigger mechanisms,
turning a semiautomatic handgun
into a fully automatic gun.
Fully automatic mode allows a
shooter to rapidly fire bullets,
which authorities say is contribut-
ing to the high number of killings
in the District. Police say that while
shootings are down this year com-
pared with 2020, a greater percent-age of shooting victims are dying.
“These illegal weapons and
parts on our streets are detrimen-
tal to the safety and well-being of
the community, and we know the
consequences all too often,” Patter-
son said.
The increased reward, which
will be offered through the end of
this year, “is a plea for help,” Patter-
son said.
D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Con-
tee III said allowing people to
claim a reward without hinging it
on an eventual conviction means
that “everybody remains anony-
mous,” possibly removing barriers
for people who don’t want to be
called to testify.
He said having the gun will en-
able police to investigate links to
other crimes and other people who
may have had or used the weapon
in the past.
Contee said firearms in the Dis-
trict tend to get passed from one
person to another and are used in
unconnected crimes throughout
the city.
“How many lives are taken and
lives disrupted or destroyed by the
results of one firearm?” Contee
said.
[email protected]THE DISTRICT
Police and ATF increase reward for tips on illegal guns
MATT MCCLAIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III attends a news conference on gun violence. He said firearms
often are passed from one person to another and used in unconnected crimes in the District.WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGESAdam Johnson, 36, p leaded guilty to a charge that comes with a
maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of $100,000.