A former Fairchild Air Force base airman was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing ammunition from the base in a scheme marked by racist and violent insurrectionist views that he says were born of grief.
U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice also sentenced 31-year-old John I. Sanger, of Rigby, Idaho, Wednesday to three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to possession of stolen ammunition.
“It’s despicable what you did,” Rice said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office — Eastern District of Washington said in a news release the FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigations opened an investigation into Sanger in August 2021 after investigators learned he was associated with two social media accounts − “awakened cascadian” and “problematicpatriot,” according to court documents and information provided at sentencing.
Sanger used one of the accounts in December 2020 to call for the violent seizure of the U.S. Capitol building, which turned into a reality.
“They defrauded our election system and are still getting away with it,” Sanger wrote. “That means the system has run it’s course. People have to die.”
During the investigation, an undercover officer met with Sanger and discussed issues involving minorities, opposition to vaccines and targeting of critical infrastructure. The officer and Sanger discussed targeting the Spokane County Public Health building…
