WASHINGTON D.C., DC — A man from Colorado Springs will spend seven months in prison and another two years on supervised release for participating in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Tyler Ethridge, 35, was convicted of multiple felony and misdemeanor charges for his role in disrupting the certification of the 2020 presidential election. In additional to serving time, he was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
A U.S. District judge convicted Ethridge of obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder, both felony offenses, last September. In addition to the felonies, Ethridge was convicted of several misdemeanor offenses, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
According to evidence presented during the trial, Ethridge traveled from his home in Colorado to Washington, D.C., to attend former President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on the National Mall.
Court documents say Ethridge left the rally and joined a crowd that surged forward, destroying the barricades, overwhelming police, and knocking an officer to the ground. Ethridge told FBI agents he didn't help dismantle the barricades, but video of him taking down perimeter fencing proved that was untrue.
From there, court documents say Ethridge crossed the barricades, where people around him chanted "Stop the steal!" and he was pepper-sprayed and shot with rubber bullets by police officers trying to control the crowd.
Ethridge then climbed a media scaffolding and encouraged the crowd to continue fighting the police, documents say, before he entered the Capitol.
From inside the Capitol building, Ethridge posted several videos on social media, court documents say. In one video, he said, “We stormed the Capitol. [. . .] This is amazing. I hope this doesn’t get me thrown in jail. I’m officially a pastor. This is what pastors need to do. […] Christians, we need to infiltrate every area of society like this. Every area of society like this. Peacefully. But if it takes a little bit of aggression to barge through the walls that Satan separates us from the culture, it’s time for the body of Christ to infiltrate the culture.”
Ethridge was also involved in an altercation with Capitol police officers in a hallway near the Senate Chamber, where he and the other rioters forcibly resisted police efforts to clear the area by bracing his body and attempting to physically resist the officers’ efforts to move him out of the hallway, according to court documents. He left the Capitol building soon after, spending about 30 minutes inside in total.
Months later, Ethridge defended his actions on Jan. 6 on social media.
On Sept. 24, 2021, he posted, “Don’t be afraid of what they sentence you with. I’m not. I’m ready for whatever I’ll be charged with. America is still primed and ready.”
The FBI arrested Ethridge on July 8, 2022, in Colorado.
Ethridge is one of more than 1,504 people who've been charged across the country for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol in the nearly four years since.
