2 Convicted Jan. 6 Rioters Donated To MAGA Republican Joe Kent

Two federally convicted participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol contributed to the congressional campaigns of Republican Joe Kent, a Donald Trump loyalist who has indulged in conspiracy theories about the attack that day and suggested most of the imprisoned rioters deserve pardons.

Last June, David Charles Rhine, an accounting firm owner from Bremerton, Washington, contributed $250 to Kent’s 2024 congressional campaign, as well as $375 to a joint fundraising committee that Kent runs with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). He had previously given $250 to Kent in 2021, when Kent first ran for Congress unsuccessfully.

That donation followed the Department of Justice’s conviction of Rhine in April on four misdemeanor charges related to his conduct at the riot. Those charges were: entering or remaining in a restricted federal building; disorderly conduct in a restricted federal building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and demonstrating in a Capitol building. Rhine, who was carrying two pocketknives and pepper spray when he entered the Capitol, was sentenced to four months in prison in September.

In addition, Alexander Sheppard, a resident of Powell, Ohio, just outside Columbus, contributed $500 to Kent in February 2022. The DOJ convicted Sheppard , one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol, on five criminal counts in January 2023, including a felony for obstructing an official proceeding. In September, Sheppard was sentenced to 19 months in prison .

Sheppard entered the Capitol through a smashed window, crossed multiple police lines aimed at stopping the mob’s advance, and yelled at officers guarding the speaker’s lobby just outside the House chamber, according to the DOJ. “I’m here with some