An Indiana woman was put on probation on Wednesday in the first sentence stemming from the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building.
Anna Morgan-Lloyd, 49, who said she came to Washington at the invitation of her hairdresser friend, pleaded guilty to a single charge of illegally demonstrating in the Capitol building and was sentenced in federal court to serve three years of probation, perform 40 hours of community service, and pay $500 in restitution, court records show.
Under a deal with prosecutors, the government dropped three other misdemeanour charges against Morgan-Lloyd as she “did not personally engage in physical violence against law enforcement or destroy any government property.” She has since apologized to “the American people” for participating in “a savage display of violence.”
“I would just like to apologize to the court, the American people, and my family,” she said in remarks to Judge Royce Lamberth. “I went there to show support for President Trump peacefully, and I’m ashamed that it became a savage display of violence.”
She added that she felt “ashamed that something meant to show support for the President had turned violent. … At first, it didn’t dawn on me, but later I realized that if every person like me, who wasn’t violent, was removed from that crowd, the ones who were violent may have lost the nerve to do what they did.”
“For that, I am sorry and take responsibility. It was never my intent to help empower people to act violently,” she said.
She had immediately following the breach on Jan. 6 described the events in a Facebook post as the “best day ever” after storming the Capitol building. She said that she and her friend “were in the first 50 people in.”
Court documents note that while Morgan-Lloyd faced a maximum potential sentence of six months in prison, a probationary sentence of three years—along with certain conditions—is an “appropriate” sentence in light of the facts and circumstances surrounding her actions leading up to and on the day of the Capitol breach.
Further, the 49-year-old remained in the Capitol only for “a little over ten minutes” and in a limited area of the building, cooperated with law enforcement at the time of arrest, including submitting to a voluntary interview and search of her cell phone, admitted to and accepted responsibility for her actions in a timely manner, expressed contrition, and does not have a criminal history.
In seeking probation for Morgan-Lloyd, prosecutors also noted that she was invited by her hairdresser friend, Dona Sue Bissey, 52, to drive to Washington to hear former President Donald Trump speak.
