Jennifer Leigh Ryan is a real estate agent from Dallas who was recently sentenced to two months in jail. She took to social media, bragging she wouldn’t go to jail because she was white and had blond hair.
Jennifer Ryan going to jail
Some rioters have received similar misdemeanor convictions but only received probation or home confinement. However, prosecutors wanted incarceration for Ms. Ryan, saying she has no remorse for her actions when a mob stormed the Capitol building and delayed the Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Prosecutors say that her belief that she was shielded from punishment means she doesn’t grasp the seriousness of her crime. Ryan apologized for her actions, but District Judge Christopher Cooper questioned whether she was truly remorseful. Prosecutors claimed Ryan traveled to D.C. on a jet chartered by a friend and live-streamed her entry into the Capitol building as alarms sounded.
Prosecutors had a strong case against Jenna Ryan
Ryan’s lawyer alleged that she was only in the building for only two minutes and didn’t act violently. Her lawyer also said she has a first amendment right to speak up on social media.
Ryan is the 10th person charged in the Jan. 6 attack and received a jail or prison sentence. More than 650 people have been charged. The prosecution team alleged that Ryan downplayed the violence and told probation authorities she didn’t know there was a riot at the Capitol, even though she recorded herself watching news coverage of rioters climbing the walls at the Capitol.
After the riot, Ryan received death threats and public heckling. She said she was forced to change her name and disguise herself in public. Ryan is set to begin serving her sentence in January.
