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Elliot Resnick, former Jewish Press editor, pleads guilty to Jan. 6 felony
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Elliot Resnick, the onetime editor of a Jewish newspaper who claimed that he was at the Capitol riot to cover it, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge for joining the attackers and obstructing a police officer.
“Did you do what the government stated?” U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras asked the former editor of the Jewish Press who stood, subdued, alongside his lawyer in the courtroom, a 10-minute walk away from the Capitol he and hundred of other rioters besieged on Jan. 6, 2021 in a bid to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election.
“Yes, I did, your honor,” said Resnick, a 40-year-old New Yorker, who was clad in a black suit and black yarmulke.
Under a plea agreement the prosecution filed at the hearing, the prosecution and the defense agreed to recommend a prison sentence of 8-14 months and a fine between $4,000 and $40,000, in part because Resnick has no criminal record.
Contreras, who is not bound by the plea agreement, reserved sentencing for June 12, after he receives a report from the probation office. The maximum sentence for the charge, obstruction of law enforcement, is five years and three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
Resnick has already agreed to pay $2,000 restitution to the Architect of the Capitol, his part of the damages incurred that day. The prosecution also agreed not to charge Resnick with other charges related to his actions on Jan. 6.
Contreras released Resnick on his own recognizance. Appointed to the court by President Barack Obama in 2012, Contreras is not known to be harsh sentencer. On Tuesday, he sentenced another Jan. 6 rioter who assaulted police to 2.5 years in prison.
Resnick and his lawyer, Clay Kaminsky, declined to comment as they left the court.
Prosecutor Sean Murphy, seated alongside Erica Tobin, the FBI agent who wrote the charging document, read parts of the document out loud.
Using video evidence and the testimony of police, Dobin wrote that Resnick held the arm of a police officer attempting to use chemical irritant to repel the rioters. The agent alleged that Resnick attempted to open doors for rioters to follow him, even when a police officer was trying to keep the door closed, and that he beckoned rioters to follow him and that he pulled rioters in through an open door.
After video emerged of his presence of the Capitol, Resnick and The Jewish Press, the Brooklyn-based tabloid where he worked from 2006-2021, the last three years as editor, said that he was covering the riot. Just months after that claim the newspaper let him go without explanation.
Resnick’s low-key affect in the courtroom contrasted with his in-your-face social media, podcasting and writing style. He has a history of using incendiary language and has called the gay rights movement “evil.” Under Resnick’s editorship, the Jewish Press, which says it presents “Torah values and ideals from a centrist or Modern Orthodox perspective,” was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League in 2019 after publishing an op-ed titled “The Pride Parade: What Are They Proud Of?” which compared marchers in the New York City event to animals, adulterers and thieves.
He also has a history of derogatory statements about Black people, and more recently has complained about how his Jan. 6 experience has inhibited his dating life.
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The post Elliot Resnick, former Jewish Press editor, pleads guilty to Jan. 6 felony appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.