Texas woman who said she wouldn't go to jail for Capitol riot sentenced to 60 days in prison

After tweeting that she was "definitely not going to jail" for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a Texas real estate broker was sentenced on Thursday to 60 days in prison and ordered to pay a $1,500 fine.

Jennifer Leigh Ryan, 51, pleaded guilty to one charge of "parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol building." Judge Christopher Cooper said her case "has generated a fair amount of public interest. And as a result, people will be interested to know what sentence you get. 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."

On Jan. 6, Ryan posted on social media that she came to Washington, D.C., in order to "storm the Capitol," CBS News reports, and was seen on Facebook Live entering the Capitol building. Later, she tweeted: "We just stormed the Capitol. It was one of the best days of my life." In a January interview with CBS Dallas-Fort Worth, Ryan said she went to D.C. at the behest of former President Donald Trump. "I feel like I was basically following my president," she said. "I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there. He asked us to be there."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Two months later, Ryan — whose PayPal account was shut down after she asked people to send her money to cover legal fees and "business losses" — seemed certain that she was in the clear. "Definitely not going to jail," Ryan tweeted. "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." During her sentencing Thursday, she took a more contrite tone, telling the judge, "This is not anything that remotely resembles who I am."