Capitol Rioter Saw 'Cult Deprogrammer' for 'Stolen Election' Belief: Lawyer
A Pennsylvania man who admitted to assaulting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot purportedly worked with a "cult deprogramming" expert to rid him of the false belief that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen."
Robert Sanford Jr. pleaded guilty in September to assaulting, resisting or impeding officers by throwing a fire extinguisher at three Capitol Police officers while denouncing them as "traitors" during the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In a court filing urging sentence leniency this week, attorney Andrew Stewart said that Sanford, who retired from a decades-long career as a firefighter in 2020, had gained "insight" into his motivations while working with a cult expert following his arrest and detainment.
"In August 2022, [Sanford] began to work with an individual that specializes in cult deprograming," Stewart wrote. "Even after he was incarcerated, he participated in regular discussions designed to challenge his ideology and belief structure, then help him understand how and why he developed the beliefs that led him to make the decisions that he did on January 6."
"Mr. Sanford was confronted with facts about the 'stolen election' conspiracy theory among others and how psychological manipulation is used to indoctrinate the followers of a conspiracy," he continued. "Mr. Sanford regrets his actions and is deeply sorry for his conduct."
Stewart said that Sanford had made a "trip down the proverbial conspiracy rabbit hole" with the aid of algorithm-equipped websites exposing him to "more and more extreme articles" that were in line with his political beliefs at the time.
Sanford's experience with the cult deprogrammer taught him that "mental health problems" and his "belief in a conspiracy" had increased his "isolation," according to his lawyer.
On January 6, Sanford attended former President Donald Trump's pre-riot Ellipse rally, where Trump repeated election lies, urging the crowd to "fight like hell" while Congress was preparing to certify then President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
While Sanford could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for his actions during the riot, Stewart asked the court to impose a sentence of 12 months and one day in prison "in a facility close to his residence," followed by one year of home confinement and three years of supervised release.
Stewart argued that the lower sentence "along with continued participation in mental health counseling and cult deprogramming will continue to rehabilitate Mr. Sanford while also minimizing the likelihood of recidivism."
Trump, who is seeking a return to the White House after becoming the first sitting or former U.S. president to be criminally indicted, continues to repeatedly push the false claim that he would have won the 2020 election if not for "massive fraud."
Biden received over 7 million more national popular votes than Trump and defeated him by 74 votes in the decisive Electoral College.
Neither Trump nor his allies have revealed any credible evidence of fraud that would have changed the election's outcome in the 2 1/2 years since the contest ended.
Newsweek has reached out to Stewart via email for comment.
