WASHINGTON — Convicted Capitol rioter Jenna Ryan says she has no regrets about what she did on January 6 – calling remorse "a thought crime” and saying she is preparing to serve her two-month prison sentence by watching YouTube videos about serving jail time.
“It’s all you can think about," Ryan said in an interview with WUSA's sister station, WFAA-TV in Dallas. “I’m watching all the YouTube videos on how prison is, how to go to prison, what to do.”
On November 4, Ryan was sentenced to 60 days in prison on one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building, a Class "B" misdemeanor.
Ryan pleaded guilty to being inside the Capitol for roughly 2 minutes during the riot after following others in through a door that had been broken open.
In her interview with WFAA reporter William Joy, Ryan seemed to shift blame on police for not telling her she was not allowed to enter.
“I wish that (door) had not been open,” Ryan said, “but a police officer was standing next to me. It was kind of like a Walmart greeter.”
Ryan also seemed to misremember what she witnessed while storming Capitol.
“It was a beautiful parade of red flags, it wasn’t the violence you see on the news,” Ryan told Joy. “It was very peaceful.”
WUSA9 can verify that statement is false.
Ryan can be seen in a Department of Justice photograph looking on as rioters destroyed camera equipment belonging to the Associated Press. And Ryan tweeted a photo of of herself standing next to a broken-out Capitol window with the caption: “If the news doesn’t stop lying about us we’re going to come after their studios next.”
The DOJ says more than 150 police officers were injured fighting the violent mob on January 6. Many of the officers hurt are still receiving treatment at Walter Reed Military Medical Center more than 10 months later.
Ryan has not been shy about speaking out about the riot. Following her arrest, Ryan tweeted that she would not be sentenced to jail time because she had “blond hair and white skin” – a statement that did her no favors with U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.
Although Ryan told WUSA9 while leaving court earlier this month that, “I walked into the Capitol for 2 minutes and I am remorseful of that,” even that seemed to have changed by the time of her interview with WFAA.
“I’m not one to go hide and as far as remorse, I have a problem with remorse because it’s like a thought crime," Ryan said.
Ryan will serve her two-month prison sentence beginning in January.
When asked by Joy what she thought her punishment should have been for what she did on January 6, Ryan said a ticket and $500 fine.
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