Anti-masker and Capitol rioter sentenced in Fresno over illegal guns, prosecutor says
A Madera man who has also been convicted for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol in Washington D.C., was sentenced Monday in a Fresno court on gun-related charges, prosecutors said.
Benjamin J. Martin, 46, who became known in Fresno for anti-mask protests during the COVID-19 pandemic, was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for illegally possessing several firearms and ammunition, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced in a news release.
Martin was prohibited from having those weapons because he had previously been convicted of domestic violence charges for a 2018 incident in which he choked his then-girlfriend and dragged her into a home as she tried to flee, prosecutors said.
The weapons were discovered in his home after Martin was arrested over the riot at the Capitol. The FBI found eight firearms, including an AR‑15‑style rifle, multiple high-capacity magazines for that rifle, and more than 500 rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.
Martin’s convictions came with an enhancement for instructing his fiancée to tell investigators the weapons belonged to her and her father, which was caught on a recorded jail phone call, prosecutors said.
He is set to be sentenced on Dec. 20 for felony offenses of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding along with several misdemeanors during a scuffle with Capitol police as he and others forced their way into the Capitol.
Martin’s public defender previously said a decision by the Supreme Court could lead to an overturning of the conviction related to the Capitol.
Benjamin Martin and Fresno anti-mask protests
Martin also became known in Fresno in January 2021 for protests on mask policies that local stores had adopted as part of state mandates.
He led a group of people who opposed Fresno and state mandates for wearing masks as a way to prevent the spread of the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus. They visited stores and challenged the mask polices, arguing they were unconstitutional.
He also pleaded to a misdemeanor burglary charge in 1998.
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This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 1:14 PM.
