A Texas real estate agent who partook in the deadly January 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection was on Thursday sentenced to two months in prison after she pleaded guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol.
“For better or worse, you’ve become one of the faces of January 6,” U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper of D.C. told Jenna Ryan, The Washington Post reported.
Ryan’s sentencing comes after she infamously took to social media to brag about not going to jail for participating in the riots. The 50-year-old had claimed being a blonde White woman with a “great job” would eventually save her from serving jail time.
Ryan also defended her actions in other tweets and in interviews with news outlets. The accused had initially labeled the prosecution a “witch hunt” and claimed what she did was “something noble.” She also insinuated the violence that took place that day was carried out by antifascists or the FBI.
Cooper also said Ryan’s case had “generated a fair amount of public interest”, and “as a result, people will be interested to know what sentence” she receives, KTVT reported.
“That sentence will tell them something about how the courts and how our country responded. And I think that the sentence should tell them that we take it seriously. . . and that it should never happen again,” Cooper added.
Cooper also made mention of Ryan seemingly not showing any signs of remorse for her actions, and her resolve to join the rioters after she returned to her hotel and saw the ensuing chaos on television.
“You’ve been very upfront that you feel no sense of shame or guilt,” Cooper told Ryan. “You suggested antifa was somehow involved. And perhaps most famously, you said that because you had blonde hair and white skin, you wouldn’t be going to jail,” Cooper said in reference to the tweet Ryan shared in March.
In that tweet, the pro-Trump supporter wrote, “Definitely not going to jail. Sorry I have blonde hair white skin a great job a great future and I’m not going to jail. Sorry to rain on your hater parade. I did nothing wrong”
But Ryan, in a letter to the court, claimed she “was trying to maintain my dignity to a mob of haters who were harassing me relentlessly by social media, phone and email.” The accused also said discussions she had with her lawyer made her assume she was going to be sentenced to probation.
“I do not feel that I am immune to punishment due to my appearance and social status,” Ryan claimed. “My true feelings are not always displayed on my public social network. Much of my inner world is kept inside.”
Ryan had claimed she was in the Capitol for just a few minutes, and she did not participate in the assault. She also said she did not witness any violence. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rochlin debunked those claims, saying that Ryan quickly left the building because she couldn’t withstand the tear gas, The Washington Post reported. And though she exited the building, she continued filming the other rioters entering. And in a video she filmed, Ryan was also heard saying she was “going to war” and ready to “storm the Capitol.”
“Even after her own exit, she seems to be encouraging, promoting, endorsing, if you will, the effort of the crowd to push its way in, to force its way in,” Rochlin said. “Even if she did not anticipate such violence, she celebrated it, she broadcast it.”
Cooper sided with Rochlin. “It’s clear that you knew this was no ordinary peaceful protest,” Cooper said. “You joined a large group of people who were intent on, in your own words, storming the Capitol.”
Ryan will start serving her sentence in January. She has also been fined $1,000.
