The J6 Families Series - Isaac Sturgeon

Isaac was sentence to 6 years of prison! Shame on the judge! Below are his mother’s thoughts about all this. It was written before the sentencing and therefore contains no comment about it.

My name is Mary Sturgeon, 65 years old. My husband is Steve Sturgeon, 67 years old. We thank you so much for your courage in taking a stand for truth on so many fronts.

Our son is Isaac Sturgeon, a J6 defendant, 34 years old and single. He is a business owner in our little town of Dillon, Montana (pop. 5,000) and has never had anything like this happen to him before. Our family has gone to several Trump rallies in the past, and none of us have been a part of a protest before.

Isaac went alone to the Trump rally on January 6. He never entered nor attempted to enter the Capitol building. Isaac was walking down a sidewalk by the Capitol with the crowd. He came upon a police barricade at the top of some steps, so he stopped. He never hollered. He expressed his appreciation for the police who were there. He was standing quietly next to the barricade by the police in the crowd with his hands in his pockets when things went crazy around him. The barricade was pushed down onto the crowd, forcing them to stumble backward down the steps. He had to put his hands out to protect himself from injury, thereby touching the barricade. For him protecting himself, he was charged, and our lives, his life, and his business are terribly changed.

In March 2021 he was arrested and ultimately charged with 7 counts against him related to that event, three felonies and four misdemeanors. After two days, he was released to await trial. After over two years and many legal motions and delays they offered him a plea deal for one felony. For him, he could not with integrity say he was guilty and accept the deal. He refused it.

For that, he is my hero.

Therefore, on May 24, 2023, he was found guilty (of being a conservative) on all seven counts against him related to that event. He has no prior criminal record. We are devastated. Crushed.

Isaac grew up here in Montana, and now he loses his right to hunt, in addition to his rights to protect his home.

During the sham trial, I soon realized that the judge already had his own opinion about our son’s charges and about the outcome. His Honor even enjoyed multiple catnaps each day of our son’s five day bench trial. Isaac’s public defender seems sincere and to genuinely care. She is fighting back and will file for a new trial, then she will file an appeal.

Notable items:

1) The judge took multiple catnaps during Isaac’s trial.
2) Our two public defenders laid out clear and thorough evidence of Isaac’s innocence, and the judge blatantly disregarded that evidence.
3) The prosecution was particularly vicious and nitpicky, also presuming to tell the judge what was going through Isaac’s mind on that day.
4) The prosecution twisted the evidence multiple times.
5) Many people who went inside have been charged with misdemeanors, yet Isaac never destroyed anything, never went inside, and never stole anything.
6) His Discover card and all his travel points were cancelled. He is banned from Airbnb. His Instagram account was cancelled. Both of his phones were taken by the FBI and not returned. His passport was confiscated and has not been returned.
7) His charging FBI agent was present during his entire trial. She was also used as a witness.
8) The bodycam evidence did not accurately reveal the entire incident.
9) The 1512 charge is inappropriate.
10) All the charges are excessive and unfounded.

Isaac is greatly loved by us, his parents, two sisters, and their husbands. We are heartbroken. We have over 30 letters of character reference for him from community members such as doctors, our school superintendent, our former mayor, friends, Isaac’s clients, and relatives. He is a hard-working, calm guy. He is a peaceful man. He has never been violent. The lies about him in the news media are abundant. Unbelievably, he is now the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

On Monday, September 25th, we go to DC for his sentencing. In a very few weeks, our lives will be horribly changed.

Please continue to speak out and fight on behalf of all the J6ers. We are being persecuted by a very corrupt system. What are we to do? We want this nightmare to be over.

I hope to speak out more about this. I will stand alongside you all to fight against this travesty.

Please see attached pictures.

With Gratitude,
Mary Sturgeon