Jan. 6 rioter sentenced after his GoPro showed him on front line rushing police

Ryan J. Reilly
Updated ·2 min read
459
Jan. 6 rioter sentenced after his GoPro showed him on front line rushing police
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

WASHINGTON — A Texas man who had a GoPro strapped to his body as he committed crimes at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced Friday to a year and a day in federal prison.

Nolan Cooke, a 24-year-old from Sherman, Texas, was sentenced by Judge Royce C. Lamberth after pleading guilty in March to a felony charge of civil disorder. Prosecutors said Cooke "helped lead the charge of rioters who broke through the police line guarding the east side of the Capitol building during the electoral vote certification" and "later bragged that he was one of the first to break through the barricade."

Image: Nolan Cooke (FBI)
Image: Nolan Cooke (FBI)

Video evidence presented in court and released to journalists at the request of NBC News shows Cooke repeatedly clashing with police officers who were overwhelmed by the mob. He helped break through the initial barricade while yelling at officers who struggled to control the pro-Trump rioters.

“We’re coming through, we’re coming through!” Cooke yells in the video. “This is our house. This is our f—g house, man,” he adds, before telling officers to “join” the mob.

Footage from Cooke's GoPro shows him breaching police lines on the eastern side of the Capitol. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)
Footage from Cooke's GoPro shows him breaching police lines on the eastern side of the Capitol. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)

“We want our f—g country,” he says. “We’re coming through.”

Cooke later says he’s part of a “revolution” and yells “We’re taking this motherf—r!”

The mob breaches the initial police line. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)
The mob breaches the initial police line. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)

“Bust the windows. We’re the front lines. Front lines,” Cooke also says. “Break the glass!”

A rioter tries to smash out the window to the door leading into the Capitol rotunda. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)
A rioter tries to smash out the window to the door leading into the Capitol rotunda. (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)

Cooke's sentencing capped a busy week in the Jan. 6 investigation. The House committee probing the riot released new footage of the Capitol attack during its primetime hearing Thursday, and the Justice Department announced that members of the Proud Boys had been indicted on seditious conspiracy charges.

Related video: Nick Quested on how Jan. 6 panel used his videos of Capitol riots

Additionally, the FBI arrested a D.C. chiropractor whose office is just blocks from the Capitol grounds in connection with the attack. It also arrested a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Michigan on Jan. 6 charges.

The FBI has made more than 820 arrests in connection with Jan. 6 , and there are hundreds more expected. Online sleuths have identified hundreds of additional suspects who have not yet been arrested, and the FBI's Capitol Violence website features images of more than 350 individuals believed to have committed violent acts that day.

As for Cooke, authorities were able to draw on more than just his GoPro footage. The Texas resident also posted a photo on Instagram with a woman believed to have been his girlfriend, according to prosecutors.

“I wouldn’t want anyone other than you with me to take on the revolution," Cooke wrote.