A relative of Jan 6 defendant Matthew Perna, who pleaded guilty in December 2021 to offenses relating to the Capitol riot, said he was driven to suicide by harassing treatment from Joe Biden’s DOJ.
In an episode of Investigative journalist Lara Logan’s “The Rest of the Story with Lara Logan,” she told the story of Jan 6 defendant Perna, who was facing years in prison before taking his own life.
The treatment of Perna and other Jan 6 defendants sharply contrasts the leftists BLM and Antifa rioters, who burned down a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, in 2020.
During the riots, around 140 federal officers were injured.
Federal prosecutors arranged for “deferred resolution agreements,” which resulted in many of the Portland defendants with no criminal records so long as they stayed out of trouble within a set time frame.
Logan noted that Perna was one of the millions who doubted the results of the 2020 election and decided to go to Washington to make his voice heard.
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“He was not an insurrectionist,” Logan said on the program. “He had no plans to overthrow the government.”
Perna was charged with unlawfully entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, USA Today reported.
The DOJ also hit him with a felony obstruction of Congress charge, resulting in charges amounting to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Matthew Perna’s friend Markus Priester said the enhanced charges really weighed on Perna.
The last time they spoke, “He was having a hard time talking. He was having to clear his throat like he was choking,” Priester recalled. “He was very anxious.”
Priester said Perna was also struggling to sleep and began coughing up blood.
“He literally rotted away from the inside out,” Priester said.
Tragically, Perna killed himself while awaiting sentencing.
Matthew’s aunt, Geri Perna, told Logan, “They completely broke him, and they broke his heart.”
“He was pushed to the point where he didn’t feel like life was worth living anymore. They robbed him of his spirit. They robbed him of his hope. His will to live,” she added.
“He loved this country, and this country destroyed him in many ways,” Geri said. “Its citizens, the media, the government. They destroyed him like he was nothing.”
Matthew Perna left a note stating, “I sacrificed my freedom when I entered the Capitol Building on Jan 6 and, in despair, took my own life the night that I wrote this.”
