The scene at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
A man who was photographed wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" sweater inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection was sentenced Thursday to 75 days in jail, the Department of Justice announced.
The big picture: Photos of Packer wearing the sweatshirt inside the Capitol complex gained national attention, becoming a symbol of the rioting groups who expressed white supremacist and antisemitic views on Jan. 6, 2021, CNN notes.
- The sweater featured the phrase "Work Brings Freedom." That's roughly translated from the German words "arbeit macht frei," which were displayed on at the entrances of Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps, where over 1.1. million mostly Jewish people were murdered during World War II.
Details: Packer pleaded guilty in January to one misdemeanor count of demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol building, according to ABC News.
- In addition to the sentence, Packer was ordered to pay $500 restitution.
Of note: The sentence is steep compared to other rioters who pleaded guilty to the same misdemeanor charge, but the sentencing judge said Packer's lengthy criminal history contributed to that decision, CNN reports.
- Other Jan. 6 defendants were not "as close to, or certainly as aware of as the violence as Mr. Packer was," U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols added.
By the numbers: Packer is one of more than 870 people who have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, including more than 265 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, per the DOJ.