Washington man and January 6 defendant Marc Anthony Bru has been sentenced to six years in prison after he was found guilty of Capitol riot charges including obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder, both of which were felonies. Bru will also be subjected to a three-year period of supervised release following his stint in prison.
Bru was tied by federal authorities to the far-right group the Proud Boys, affiliates of which drove some of the first confrontations on January 6 around the Capitol, including antagonism towards police before then-President Donald Trump even finished his infamous speech that day at an outdoor rally in the city. Bru was defiant throughout the process of facing down justice and was arrested — again — in the middle of last year after failing to appear for court proceedings in his case. At the eventual hearing where his sentence was imposed, authorities say that Bru told the judge: “You could give me 100 years and I would still do it all over again.”
At the actual Capitol, Bru was among the January 6 participants who actually entered the building. He took selfies from a gallery overlooking the Senate floor, which had recently been evacuated as rioters advanced across the complex, openly threatening targets’ lives. Outside the Capitol, Bru earlier spent awhile antagonizing police officers. “You’ll die for the corporation!” he shouted at one point. The Justice Department didn’t make the connection in a press release, but the commentary might reference perspectives associated with the so-called sovereign citizen movement, which challenges the very legal foundation of the United States government.
In between his lengthy confrontations outdoors and his trip to the Senate gallery, Bru actually entered the Capitol about 20 minutes after its initial breach, per timelines provided by the Justice Department. Other recent news in Capitol riot cases includes a pair of prison sentences for a brother and sister in their 20s who were co-defendants with Proud Boys participant William Chrestman, who threatened police outside the Capitol with a wooden ax handle and later used the same implement to help prop open a metal overhead door inside the actual building.
