A member of far-right terrorist organization Proud Boys who approached Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol was sentenced on Monday to more than four years in prison for disrupting Congress’s certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.
In a news release, the Department of Justice (DOJ) noted Washington, D.C., native Joshua Pruitt was one of the first rioters to enter the Capitol building’s crypt as he jumped over a railing and entered the building through the Senate Wing Door, picking up and throwing objects in his way as he moved toward the visitor’s center.
Pruitt later had an encounter with a member of Schumer’s security team as they were evacuating the building, leading the lawmaker and his team to reverse course.
In a statement during his sentencing hearing, Pruitt apologized for his actions during the insurrection but reiterated that he still believed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
“I did believe the election was stolen. I still do,” Pruitt told Kelly, according to NBC News. “I broke the law, bottom line, regardless of whether I’m right or wrong on my feelings.”
Pruitt, 40, pleaded guilty in June to a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding, and following the end of his prison sentence, Pruitt will pay restitution up to $2,000 and will be placed on supervised release for three years.
In a statement to The Hill, Pruitt’s attorney Robert Jenkins said he is “disappointed” the judge still handed down a long-term sentence for Pruitt, noting that his client did not assault anyone during the insurrection.
“Mr. Pruitt behavior was in comparison to other January 6 defendants that his sentence is disproportionately longer for someone who did not assault any law enforcement officers or was charged with any conspiracy type offenses,” Jenkins said. “So we are disappointed that the judge did impose a 55-month sentence.”
A father of two children, Pruitt worked as a bartender in the D.C. area before the Capitol insurrection. He said he’s since been blacklisted from working in city establishments for his involvement in the attack, according to The Washington Post.
Around midday on Jan. 6, Pruitt began marching toward the Capitol building, using a piece of fencing as a makeshift ladder to climb onto the stairs as rioters pushed off a line of law enforcement to advance up the stairs to the Upper West Terrace of the building complex, according to court documents.
He later climbed out of a window to leave the building at 2:52 p.m., only to get arrested by authorities later in the night for violating the city-wide curfew. Federal charges were filed against him the next day, documents said.
Authorities have arrested more than 860 individuals for their involvement in the Capitol insurrection, which resulted in the deaths of five people. Two hundred and sixty individuals have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement during the riot.