Infowars Host Owen Shroyer Pleads Guilty to Entering Restricted Area on Jan. 6

On June 24, Infowars anchor Owen Shroyer entered a plea of guilty to a criminal offense related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

According to paperwork submitted in federal court in Washington, Shroyer acknowledged to accessing a restricted location during the breach. Shroyer didn’t go inside the Capitol complex.

Shroyer, a host for the Infowars website run by Alex Jones, may spend up to a year in prison.

Later this year, a sentence hearing was planned.

On Jan. 5, 2021, Shroyer told a crowd in Washington: “Americans are ready to fight. We’re not exactly sure what that’s going to look like perhaps in a couple of weeks if we can’t stop this certification of the fraudulent election of Joe Biden.”

He also said that “we are the new revolution” and that “We are going to restore and we are going to save the republic!” Shroyer made similar comments that day on his Infowars show.

A day later, Shroyer stood near the Capitol and said over the loudspeaker that Democrats were tyrants, and “we declare death to tyranny” and “death to tyrants.”

“Today we march for the Capitol, because on this historic January 6, 2021, we have to let our Congressmen and women know and have to let Mike Pence know, they stole the election, we know they stole it, and we aren’t going to accept it,” Shroyer said.

Shroyer led chants of “USA” and “1776” as the crowd marched to the Capitol. He entered Capitol grounds after 1 p.m. and later led similar chants on the Capitol steps.

Defense

Shroyer attended the events on January 6 as a journalist, according to Shroyer’s attorney Norm Pattis, who testified in court.

“To the extent that he was present on Capitol grounds, it was as part of a political demonstration. He did not engage in violence or in any attempt to impede or obstruct but mainly observed. As a journalist, he had an obligation to be close to the action,” Pattis said in a motion to dismiss the charges.

Shroyer said in an affidavit that his intention was primarily to “report on my observations to our millions of listeners and viewers worldwide.”

About a mile from the Capitol, according to Shroyer, he and Jones went to see then-President Donald Trump speak. The security detail followed Shroyer and Jones as they made their way to the Capitol through a throng.

Jones attempted to control the mob while Shroyer watched after observing how the gathering had grown rowdy at the Capitol, according to Shroyer.

Prosecutors said, “Harkening to the last time Americans overthrew their government in a revolution while standing on the Capitol steps where elected representatives are certifying a Presidential Election you disagree with does not qualify as de-escalation,” prosecutors said.

Plea

As part of Shroyer’s plea arrangement, the move to dismiss was withdrawn.

Shroyer entered and remained in a restricted building or grounds, which was a misdemeanor, and pled guilty to it. Three other charges were dismissed in return.

“Mr. Shroyer entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge and will be sentenced in September. We are hopeful that he will be spared incarceration,” Pattis told The Epoch Times via email. “We thank prosecutors for being reasonable in his case and wish that same spirit of reasonableness were more broadly shared in the Department of Justice. Jan. 6 was a riot, not an insurrection. A misdemeanor conviction is all this was worth.”

The agreed-upon statement of crime claims that Shroyer broke the law by entering Capitol grounds, including passing through barriers that had been relocated and taken down as well as at least one sign that said, “area closed”.

On September 12, Shroyer will get a sentence from Trump appointee and U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly.