Man who wore ‘Camp Auschwitz’ to Capitol riot sentenced

The US Capitol rioter who wore a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt during the Jan. 6 insurrection was sentenced Thursday to 75 days in prison.

Robert Keith Packer, 57, was sentenced by US District Judge Carl Nichols, who called the rioter’s sweatshirt “incredibly offensive.”

Packer, of Virginia, garnered widespread attention for the black “Camp Auschwitz” pullover that featured a skull and crossbones and the phrase “Works Brings Freedom” — a rough translation of the German “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which was written above the gates of Auschwitz.

The back of the sweatshirt bore the words, “Staff.”

According to Assistant US Attorney Mona Furst, Packer also wore another Nazi-related article underneath the pullover: an “SS” T-shirt, a reference to the Nazi Party paramilitary organization founded by Adolf Hitler.

“It seems to me that he wore that sweatshirt for a reason. We don’t know what the reason was because Mr. Packer hasn’t told us,” Nichols said.

FBI agents reported in a court filing that Packer “fatuously” said he wore the offensive sweatshirt, “Because I was cold,” when pressed on his motivations.

Packer was arrested one week after the Jan. 6 insurrection and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The self-employed pipe fitter refused to address Judge Nichols at his video conference hearing because he didn’t want his words “splashed out there” on social media, his lawyers said.

Shortly after the riot, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly slammed Packer as a “punk” who was “part of a white supremacist raid.” Packer’s defense attorney Stephen Brennwald said Packer was offended to be labeled as such “because he doesn’t see himself that way at all” and even considered pursuing a lawsuit against the Democratic leader.

Packer has a lengthy criminal record, with approximately 21 convictions, mostly for drunken driving and other motor vehicle violations, prosecutors said.

In the last week, the Justice Department issued roughly 40 subpoenas of close allies to Donald Trump in relation to the Capitol riot and has seized the phones of several others, including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

With Post Wires