‘Deep sense of shame and remorse.’ Former Missouri man sentenced in Capitol riot case

A former Missouri man who blamed his ex-boss and former President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol riot has been sentenced to 12 months of probation.

Eric Glen Harrower, 35, who was accused of helping protesters scale a banister leading to the doors they breached, also must pay $500 restitution for the more than $2.9 million in damage to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The sentencing was conducted via Zoom on Tuesday by Chief Judge James E. Boasberg in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Finding himself in a situation that is completely at odds with who he is as a person, Mr. Harrower feels a deep sense of shame and remorse,” Harrower’s public defender wrote in a sentencing document filed in federal court on Saturday.

“He is overwhelmingly disappointed for letting down not just himself, but also those who depend on him.”

Harrower lived in Jefferson County near St. Louis in 2021 but has since moved to Colorado. He is the 23rd Capitol riot defendant charged in Missouri to be sentenced. Eight other Missouri defendants have been convicted and await sentencing, and the cases of another five are pending.

Harrower was charged July 6, 2023, with four misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. The government dismissed the other charges in exchange for his guilty plea on the parading count.

He faced a maximum six months’ incarceration, a $5,000 fine and five years’ probation. The government had recommended 36 months’ probation with a condition of 14 days of intermittent confinement, 60 hours of community service and $500 restitution.

In his sentencing document, Harrower laid the blame for his actions on his former boss and Trump.

”After the presidential election, former President Trump, members of his inner circle and some members of the media began circulating the word that the election was ‘stolen,’” the document said. “The false claims spread on media — from local news outlets, to Facebook, to some national broadcasts — that the election had been corrupted.

“...Like many others, he (Harrower) had received false information about the 2020 election — information that he now fully recognizes was untrue.”

Boss invited him to go, paid for trip

Harrower went to Washington, D.C., his filing said, to support Trump. His boss, Joshua Dressel, invited him to go, Harrower said, and paid for the trip. Harrower said he feared he would lose his job with Dressel’s tree service company if he declined the invitation.

According to Harrower’s filing, Trump told those at his “Stop the Steal” rally “that the election results were incorrect, that this created a national security threat, and that his supporters should go to the Capitol to urge Senators and Vice President Mike Pence to take what he described as lawful steps provided for under the Constitution to correct the election results.”

It said Harrower then walked with the crowd from the rally to the Capitol, entered the building and stayed inside for a little more than 20 minutes.

“While in the building, he did not engage in any violence, he did not taunt or insult police, he did not damage property, he did not encourage others to engage in violence, and he did not celebrate violence,” the document said.

Harrower has no criminal record, his filing said, adding that his actions on Jan. 6 “are an aberration in his life and character.”

“He regrets his decision to go to Washington, D.C., to attend the Trump rally,” it said, “and, most importantly, to enter the U.S. Capitol building.”

The government, however, said Harrower downplayed his involvement and had a key role in helping rioters breach the Capitol.

As Harrower and Dressel headed to the Capitol from Trump’s rally, the government said in its sentencing memorandum, they could hear flashbangs and see what looked like tear gas.

“There was a lot of chaos in front of the Capitol,” the document said. But even so, Harrower and Dressel kept going.

“At the Capitol grounds, rioters toppled barricades that consisted of metal bike racks, physically linked end to end,” the filing said. Upon arriving at the Capitol, it said, Harrower went to the northwest stairs, climbed to the top of a 10-foot bannister and held an overturned bike rack to allow other rioters to use it as a ladder to climb up, where they gained access to the staircase.

Officers stationed on the staircase tried to keep rioters away, the government said.

“However, at about 2:09 p.m., when the mob on the steps reached critical mass, it was able to overwhelm the officers higher up on the steps,” the filing said. “Accordingly, Harrower fueled the manpower of the mob, of which he was a willing participant, and enabled the mayhem it caused.”

Among first group of rioters to breach Capitol

Harrower and others then made their way up to the West Plaza and toward the Senate Wing doors, the document said. Surveillance video showed that he entered through the doors at about 2:14 p.m. — among the first group of rioters to enter the Capitol Building.

“He came into the Capitol Crypt through the north corridor, remaining in the Crypt area from at least approximately 2:25 through approximately 2:34 p.m.,” the government’s filing said. “In the Crypt, the mob was raucous and loud. During this time, Harrower would have been able to witness a member of the mob throw a fire extinguisher at police officers.”

Harrower exited through a broken window near the Senate Wing doors at about 2:36 p.m., the government said.

Dressel was charged in July 2021 with entering the Capitol in the early minutes of the breach and pleaded guilty in August 2022 to parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building. He was sentenced in March to 14 days in jail, a $500 fine and $500 restitution.

Harrower volunteered to talk to the FBI after Dressel was charged, the government’s sentencing document said. He spoke with the FBI again after he was charged, admitting “that he went to the Capitol to join others who believed the election results were not valid, and he wanted to have his voice heard.”

The government said, however, that Harrower told the FBI he had used the bike rack as a ladder “because he was concerned for the safety of the rioters climbing the wall.”

“This statement minimizes his conduct and shows a lack of remorse,” the government said.

But Harrower’s minimization did not end there, it said.

“He claimed to help calm people down and pick up trash, but the reviewed footage shows no evidence of his doing so,” the filing said. “Instead, video shows Harrower embraced Dressel twice as chaos and violence, the very chaos and violence which Harrower fueled as a member of the mob, swirled around them.”

Harrower’s sentencing memorandum said after he left the Capitol on Jan. 6, he learned more about the actions of others and the extent of the damage and violence.

“He was immediately shocked and ashamed of the fact that he was a part of the event on January 6,” it said. “Mr. Harrower then took several actions that demonstrate his remorse, rehabilitation, and personal integrity.”

Harrower “voluntarily made himself known to the FBI as one of the individuals involved in the events of January 6, 2021,” his filing said. He also cut all ties with Dressel, got a new job and moved his family to Colorado.

In the three-plus years since the riot, it said, Harrower “has not been rearrested; he has welcomed a new child; he has held down a stable job; he has moved closer to family and a positive support system; and he has committed to never make this kind of mistake again.”

Harrower’s sentencing document included letters of support from his wife, his sister-in-law and his boss.

Rebecca Harrower wrote that her husband is “a very hard-working” and “God-fearing” man who is a great father to their four children ages 1 to 11 and “is always ready to help out extended family.”

“I know he has great remorse for his actions in this case,” she said. “My husband is a law-abiding citizen and only wants the best for his country.”