Myerstown man gets probation for Jan. 6 Capitol riot role: 'I do regret doing what I did'

Matthew Toth, Lebanon Daily News
·2 min read

A 70-year-old Myerstown man will serve 30 days of home detention for his role in the Capitol riots on Jan. 6.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols sentenced Terry Brown to three years of probation on Wednesday afternoon. Brown pleaded guilty in September to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capital building.

"If I had to do it all over again, I would never do it again," Brown said during his sentencing.

Federal prosecutors dropped three other charges against Brown as part of the plea agreement, including violent entry and disorderly conduct in a restricted building.

A 70-year-old Myerstown resident Terry Brown will be serving three years of probation, one month under house arrest, for his role in the Capitol riots on Jan. 6.
A 70-year-old Myerstown resident Terry Brown will be serving three years of probation, one month under house arrest, for his role in the Capitol riots on Jan. 6.

Brown was one of the only Pennsylvanians arrested on Jan. 6. In an interview with the Lebanon Daily News In January, Brown said by the time he got to the building, the barriers were already down and the doors were already open.

"People were yelling things like 'This is our House,' 'We want a fair vote' (and) things like that," he said. "It was all peaceful till the point that they started shooting tear gas."

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Video surveillance captured Brown walking in the Capitol, according to court documents. Brown, along with others, gathered in a corridor where U.S. Capitol Police officers had formed a defensive line on one end.

"Officers issued commands for the rioters to leave the building," officials said. "When Brown didn't immediately do so, he was arrested."

Both prosecutors and Brown's lawyers told Nichols that Brown was not violent and didn't destroy property while he was in the building. Officials added that cameras show Brown picking up after rioters.

"Mr. Brown did not know that he would eventually end up at the Capitol," Brown's lawyer Terrance McGowan said in his sentencing memo. "After former President Trump instructed his followers to march on the Capitol, Mr. Brown, swept up in the fervor of the moment, began walking towards the capitol."

In the same Lebanon Daily News interview from January, Brown said, "I don't regret doing what I did, because we got a message across and the world knows it." Prosecutors referenced the quote several times during his sentencing hearing when asking for a stronger penalty.

Brown, who acknowledged the interview at his sentencing, said he was sorry he allowed himself to be caught up in the moment. Officials agreed Brown has cooperated with the FBI since his arrest.

"Everything that I told them was exactly the truth, except for I do regret doing what I did," Brown said to Nichols.

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on Twitter at @DAMattToth.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Myerstown man sentenced to probation for his role in Jan. 6 Capitol riot