Brownsburg couple sentenced for roles in Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot
WASHINGTON (WISH) — A Brownsburg, Indiana, couple has been sentenced to serve time in federal prison after investigators say they participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol building, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
A group breached the building and disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was convened to count the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. The FBI arrested Arthur and Jessica Reyher on March 15 in Indianapolis.
Arthuur Reyher was sentenced to eight months in prison.
Jessica Reyher was sentenced to 90 days in prison.
Both were ordered to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution as well, the Justice Department said in a release.
The couple will also serve 200 hours of community service.
Both had pleaded guilty in November to a felony offense of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, according to the Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice says the Reyhers attended the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, where President Donald Trump spoke. The Reyhers were then part of a group that marched to the Capitol building and entered a restricted area.
The Justice Department says a specific tunnel, which had been created as a “narrow hallway … by the construction of the Inauguration stage,” also became where “violent attacks against law enforcement” happened. The tunnel used by the Reyhers, prosecutors said, was where the two “quickly pushed to the front of the crowd of rioters and joined others in aggressively pushing against the established police line.”
The couple contributed to the efforts more than once, prosecutors say. That included standing outside the entrance and yelling “PUSH!” and “OUR HOUSE!” and patting rioters on the back.
An officer could be heard screaming in pain as the Reyhers pushed their body weight into the crowd.
The Department of Justice, in a news release, said more than 1,313 people had been charged in its ongoing investigation. The department says that total included more than 469 people charged with “assaulting or impeding law enforcement.”
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