'Ashamed' Capitol rioter gets probation after guilty plea

Anna Morgan-Lloyd of Indiana was sentenced to three years of probation on Wednesday, after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of demonstrating inside the Capitol on Jan. 6

This is the first sentencing of a Jan. 6 rioter. After the attack, Lloyd, 49, called Jan. 6 "the most exciting day of my life," but she told U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth on Wednesday that she now is "ashamed that it became a savage display of violence that day." Lloyd said she wanted to support former President Donald Trump "peacefully" and it was "never my intent to be a part of something that's so disgraceful to our American people and so disgraceful to our country. I just want to apologize."

In addition to serving probation, Lloyd must also perform 40 hours of community service and pay $500 in restitution. Prosecutors said probation was appropriate, The Washington Post reports, because Lloyd does not have any known ties to extremists and during the 10 minutes she was inside a Capitol hallway, she was not violent or destructive. They also said Lloyd spent an "eye-opening" two days in jail and has cooperated with law enforcement.

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Lamberth, a former federal and Army prosecutor, was appointed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan. He said he doesn't want other defendants to see Lloyd's sentencing and think "probation is the automatic outcome here, because it's not going to be." He also spoke out against comments made by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who last month said the pro-Trump rioters looked like they were on "a normal tourist visit."

"I'm especially troubled by the accounts of some members of Congress that Jan. 6 was just a day of tourists walking through the Capitol," Lamberth said. "I don't know what planet they were on. ... This was not a peaceful demonstration. It was not an accident that it turned violent; it was intended to halt the very functioning of our government."