Federal prosecutors are seeking 60 days in prison for Capitol rioter Jenna Ryan, a Texas resident who referred to the day that the Trump mob stormed the Capitol as “one of the best days of my life.” In their push for her incarceration, prosecutors pointed to Ryan’s documented arrogance, including a tweet in which she wrote that she has “blonde hair white skin a great job a great future and I’m not going to jail.” At the Capitol, Ryan livestreamed herself inside the building, and she posted a photo of herself on Twitter posing beside a broken window, writing that “if the news doesn’t stop lying about us we’re going to come after their studios next…”.
As summarized by HuffPost, prosecutors ‘said she should spend 60 days in prison because she knew the day could turn violent and said she was “going to war,” promoted violence at the Capitol, chanted “hang Mike Pence,” promoted violence against the news media, claimed she deserved “a medal” for what she did, spread false information about the riot, lied about her participation in the riot, and “sought to exploit her presence during the attack on the Capitol for profit.”’ That’s no exaggeration, and it shows the scope of the mind-boggling ridiculousness that was on display at the Capitol that day — while there, Ryan — who works as a real estate broker and came to D.C. in January on a private plane — proclaimed that she is “not messing around. When I come to sell your house, this is what I will do. I will fucking sell your house.”
As for Ryan’s comment tying her appearance and race to her belief that she wouldn’t be going to jail, prosecutors noted the concern that letting Ryan evade strict punishment could help leave open the option of her committing similar acts in the future. As authorities put it:
‘A defendant who believes she is immune from strict punishment because of her race and physical appearance may reoffend because the consequences for wrongdoing will never, in the defendant’s mind, be severe even when severity is merited. Perhaps the most compelling need for specific deterrence arises from the defendant’s misguided belief that she is above the law, or at least insulated from incarceration.’
At this point, Ryan — like other defendants accused of participating in the assault on the Capitol but not directly perpetrating offenses such as assaults on police officers — has pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of illegally parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol, which comes with a prison sentence of up to six months.
