Realtor who flew to the Capitol riot on a private jet and said she wouldn't go to jail because of her 'blonde hair' and 'white skin' gets 60 days behind bars

Ashley Collman
Updated ·3 min read
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  • Jenna Ryan was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Thursday for her role in the Capitol riot.

  • Ryan flew on a private plane to Washington, DC, and documented the riot on social media.

  • She apologized for her actions in a letter to the judge before her sentencing.

A Texas realtor who flew on a private jet to Washington, DC, and took part in the Capitol riot was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Thursday, after pleading guilty to a single federal misdemeanor charge of parading in the Capitol, WUSA reported.

Jenna Ryan had boasted on social media that she wouldn't get any jail time because of her "blonde hair" and "white skin."

When a critic on Twitter told Ryan in March that she would go to jail, Ryan responded by saying she was "definitely not going to jail."

"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," Ryan added.

Ryan became one of the most well-known Capitol rioters for taking a chartered plane to Washington, DC, with other supporters of President Donald Trump. She posted on social media throughout the trip, including a video filmed in a bathroom mirror right before heading to the riot.

"We're gonna go down and storm the capitol," she said in the video, according to a criminal complaint. "They're down there right now and that's why we came and so that's what we are going to do. So wish me luck."

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Ryan posted a picture of her standing next to a shattered window at the Capitol on the day of the riot. United States District Court for the District of Columbia

The video was a key factor in the judge's decision to sentence Ryan to 60 days in jail, saying it showed that Ryan knew what she was getting into when she headed to the Capitol, WUSA reported.

Ryan was initially charged with 12 counts but struck a plea deal with prosecutors to have all but a single misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol dropped if she pleaded guilty, which she did in August.

Ryan had tried to convince the judge to give her a lenient sentence by writing a four-page letter in which she apologized for her actions on January 6.

She also said that the tweet about her not getting jail time was taken out of context and that she didn't see herself as above the law.

"Several bullies on Twitter said something to the effect of you're ugly, blonde and you're going to prison," Ryan wrote to the judge. "I responded back apologizing for my blonde hair but that I wasn't getting prison."

The post that Ryan responded to was a meme that made no mention of her appearance.

"I wasn't saying I was above prison, I just felt that it would be unlikely since I was pleading to entering the Capitol for 2 minutes and 8 seconds," Ryan wrote, adding, "A tweet of me taking up for myself against a bully who is harassing me does not indicate that I feel above-the-law."

Ryan said that while she regretted trespassing on the Capitol, she was proud of her other actions that day.

"While I feel badly about unlawfully entering into the Capitol on January 6th, not everything I did that day was bad," she wrote. "Some actions I took that day were good. I came to DC to protest the election results. I wanted my voice to be heard. My only weapon was my voice and my cell phone."

Read the original article on Business Insider