A federal judge sentenced a 35-year-old Colorado Springs man to seven months in prison Wednesday for breaching the U.S. Capitol, after investigators said he was pepper-sprayed by police but continued to record videos for social media, saying it was what he “needed to do” as a pastor.
Tyler Ethridge, who was convicted of several felony and misdemeanor charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, will also be required to serve two years of supervised release after his prison sentence and must pay $2,000 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said in a news release.
A federal judge convicted Ethridge of obstructing a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to count the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election and civil disorder, both of which are felonies.
Investigators found Ethridge spent about 30 minutes inside the Capitol building, where he filmed videos from his phone and posted them on social media, court records said.
In one video that he posted on social media, he is heard saying, “We stormed the Capitol. … This is amazing. I hope this doesn’t get me thrown in jail. I’m officially a pastor. This is what I needed to do. … Christians, we need to infiltrate every area of society like this. … Peacefully. But if it takes a little bit of aggression to barge through the walls that Satan separates us from the culture, it’s time for the body of Christ to infiltrate the culture.”
Ethridge traveled from his home in Colorado to attend former president Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, before Ethridge headed toward the Capitol, according to federal court documents.
He joined a crowd who pushed through bike rack barricades and police officers blocking off the entrance to the Capitol and surged forward, knocking a police officer to the ground in the process, court documents said. He also removed another fence made of bicycle racks, which held a sign declaring the area as closed.
After passing through the barricades, police officers who were trying to control the crowd pepper-sprayed Ethridge and hit him with rubber bullets, court documents said, but he continued into the Capitol and encouraged the crowd to keep fighting against the police.
After the riot, he continued to post on social media, investigators said. In a post from September 2021, he wrote: “Don’t be afraid of what they sentence you with. I’m not. I’m ready for whatever I’ll be charged with. America is still primed and ready.”
The FBI arrested Ethridge on July 8, 2022.
He was also found guilty of several misdemeanor charges, including disorderly conduct inside a restricted building, court records show.
Ethridge is one of at least 20 Coloradans who faced charges from the Jan. 6 riot. In the 44 months since the riot, more than 1,504 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, according to the Department of Justice. More than 560 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.
Type of Story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 09:50:00
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