Rep. Matt Gaetz, a 1980s teen movie bully who had the troubling good fortune to get elected to Congress, was all sulky after a 35-year-old woman threw a drink at him back in June. He flexed his little bicep and pressed charges, and now that woman’s been sentenced to 15 days in jail.
NBC News reports that Florida resident Amanda Kondrat’yev received the sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to assaulting a member of Congress for throwing said drink at Gaetz as he left a restaurant in Pensacola on June 1. Kondrat’yev was allegedly holding a protest sign reading “Gaetz—wipe the blood from your hands, A+ rating—NRA, save our kids vote Gaetz out in 2020″ at the time.
Gaetz was completely unharmed, of course, but decided to press charges anyway, in case Kondrat’yev’s act of defiance inspired even more people to throw drinks and perhaps even trash at him, for some reason. In fact, he was so serious about sending Kondrat’yev and any other drink-wielding opponents a message, he showed up at her sentencing to push for jail time.
“Only incarceration allows me to reinforce to my supporters and opponents alike that Free Speech is welcomed—but assault will not be tolerated,” Gaetz said in a pre-sentencing statement.
Kondrat’yev will begin her sentence on December 2, whereupon she’s expected spend far more time in jail than the president Gaetz loves so much ever will.
Correction, 9:48 p.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified Amanda Kondrat’yev as 25. She is 35. Jezebel regrets the error.