The Justice Department raised eyebrows two years ago when it sought a reduced prison term for an arsonist whose fire killed a man during the riots following George Floyd's death.

Yet while authorities have gone easy on criminals associated with the Black Lives Matter move, a sentence handed down this week shows that January 6 rioters are treated very differently. 

Prosecutor: Defendant attacked "the United States and its system of government"

According to The Hill, 48-year-old Kentucky resident Dan Edwin Wilson was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday over his role in the unrest.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Mariano asserted that although Wilson did not engage in violent acts, he nevertheless "sought out violence and endeavored to organize others to join him in his violent aims."

Mariano insisted that "Wilson's crime was an attack on not just the Capitol, but the United States and its system of government."

"He joined a mob and struck a blow to a central feature of the American system: the peaceful transfer of power," the United States attorney went on to allege.

Messages show Wilson rejected bringing guns on January 6

Prosecutors pointed to social media messages that Wilson sent, including one in which he rejected a suggestion that firearms be brought to the protest.

"In my opinion I don’t think it’s time to gun up for the sixth we have to play this out," the defendant wrote in December of 2020.

Yet he added that "if they seat biden on the 20th, all bets are off." Wilson further said that "it's gonna happen even if Trump wins we have to get this government under control it’s been crossing my mind if we go to a Civil War do we try to take Washington DC first or do we try to take state capitals first."

The Hill noted that Wilson's defense attorney maintained that while his client genuinely thought the election had been stolen, he nevertheless "did not plan an insurrection."

Trump promises January 6 pardons "on a case-by-case basis"

For his part, former President Donald Trump has argued that many of those convicted for their role in the events of January 6 were unjustly and should be pardoned.

Karoline Leavitt serves as his campaign's press secretary, and she told NBC News that "he will pardon January 6th protestors who are wrongfully imprisoned by Crooked Joe Biden’s Justice Department."

Leavitt explained that "those decisions will be determined on a case-by-case basis when he is back in the White House."