Jim Robert Elliott seeks early release from prison after his guilty plea to assaulting officers at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Screenshot from DOJ via WLS-TV/YouTube)
A helmeted Proud Boy clad in armor and spiked gloves who hit an officer with a flagpole during the Jan. 6 riots and shouted a “guttural” battle cry from the movie “300” wants to get out of prison early.
In a handwritten letter filed this week in federal court, Jim Robert Elliott — sentenced last year to 37 months in prison after his guilty plea for assaulting officers — said he regretted his actions. He said he’s ashamed that his wife and children carry the financial burden without him due to his recklessness on Jan. 6.
“During the course of my sentence, I have had a lot of time to think back and reflect on my actions and I honestly do regret the part that I played in the riot,” he wrote. “Through this whole experience I have used it to put my priorities back where they should have been all along and when I return to my family I plan to pour all of my energy into raising my kids right and making sure that I am there and STAY there to instill them with good values and a faith that is strong enough to stand against life’s many trials.”
He says he is eligible for a reduction because he is a first-time offender, has complied with court orders, and has earned positive reviews from his supervisors for his work as a commissary clerk at FCI Ashland, a low-security federal lockup in Kentucky. He said he’s paid his fine by having his family sell one of his cars back home. He surrendered to begin serving his sentence last July and has been in custody since.
Prosecutors countered the court should keep him locked up, saying the Proud Boys used the flagpole as a “jousting lance” and “whacked an officer with a wooden flagpole.” And that for assaulting cops that day, he got the lower end of the prescribed sentence.
Elliott drove from Illinois to Washington, D.C., as thousands of Donald Trump supporters interrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election and threatened the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden, according to the court filing.
Elliott marched to the Capitol with other members of the Proud Boys.
At one point, he faced a mob of rioters behind him and yelled, “Patriots, what is your occupation?”
“Ah-ooh! Ah-ooh! Ah-ooh!” he responded, mimicking a phrase inspired by a battle cry from the movie “300” about the battle between the Spartans and the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
Elliott thrust his flagpole into a line of officers trying to hold back the mob that afternoon. The flagpole made contact with at least one officer.
Elliott then moved to the base of the Capitol’s inauguration scaffolding, repeated the battle cry and then stopped his advance when officers fired chemical irritants at the crowd.
Afterward, he sent texts describing the chant from the movie as his “rally cry” and bragging, “Oh dude wana know one more two thing? I bonked 2 cops…never thought I’d say that lol.”
His request comes as many convicted rioters are currently petitioning the court to reduce their sentences under new sentencing guidelines.
