Missouri man who helped rioters climb banister to breach Capitol on Jan. 6 pleads guilty

A Missouri man accused of helping rioters scale a banister that led to the doors they breached during the Capitol riot has pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count.

Eric Glen Harrower, of Jefferson County near St. Louis, entered a guilty plea last week to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. The hearing was held via video conference in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Harrower’s sentencing is set for Feb. 23. He faces a maximum six months’ incarceration, a $5,000 fine and five years’ probation. He also must pay $500 restitution for the more than $2.9 million in damage to the Capitol.

Harrower was charged July 6 with four misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. The government dropped the other charges in exchange for his guilty plea on the parading count.

A statement of offense signed by Harrower on Nov. 16 said he traveled from his home in Barnhart, Missouri, to the Washington, D.C., area on Jan. 5, 2021. The purpose of the trip, it said, was to protest what he believed was a fraudulent presidential election.

On Jan. 6, the statement said, Harrower attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in support of then-President Donald Trump. After Trump’s speech, he made his way to the Capitol. He was dressed in a maroon sweatshirt, black baseball cap with “TRUMP” on the front, gray shoes and blue pants, it said.

Harrower spent the day — including time inside and outside the Capitol — with Joshua Dressel, who also lived in Jefferson County, the document said.

As the two headed to the Capitol, it said, they could hear flashbangs and see what looked like tear gas.

“They witnessed rioters that had been pepper sprayed and claimed to have been shot with pepper ball rounds,” the statement said. “There was a lot of chaos in front of the Capitol.”

Even so, it said, Harrower and Dressel continued to the Capitol.

“At the Capitol grounds, rioters toppled barricades that consisted of metal bike racks, physically linked end to end,” the statement said.

Harrower then climbed to the top of a 10-foot bannister and held an overturned bike rack to allow other rioters to use it as a ladder to climb up, where they gained access to the staircase.

Officers stationed on the staircase tried to keep rioters away, but they pushed past the officers around 2:09 p.m., according to the statement. Harrower and others then made their way to the Upper West Terrace outside the Senate Wing Doors.

Around 2:13 p.m., the document said, rioters broke glass windows and forced open the doors.

“At approximately 2:15 p.m., Harrower entered the building with a large crowd of rioters through the Senate Wing Door,” it said. “Harrower was among the first group of rioters to make entry into the building.”

He went to the Crypt and remained in that area from 2:25 p.m. through about 2:34 p.m, the document said.

“He then exited through a broken window near the Senate Wing doors at about 2:36 p.m.,” it said. “Harrower remained on the United States Capitol grounds until approximately 4:00 p.m.”

Dressel was charged last year with entering the Capitol in the early minutes of the breach and pleaded guilty in August to parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building. He was sentenced in March to 14 days in jail, a $500 fine and $500 restitution.

The FBI agent who signed the probable cause affidavit that accompanied Harrower’s criminal complaint said he reviewed open-source videos from Jan. 6 and found evidence “establishing that Harrower and Dressel used overturned bike racks as ladders to assist other rioters as they clambered up the banister to the northwest steps” of the Capitol.

“In doing so, they fueled the manpower of the mob, of which they were willing participants,” the agent wrote in the document. “When the mob on the steps reached critical mass, it was able to breach the police line at the top of the steps.”

And from there, the affidavit said, the rioters went on to break into the Capitol.