WASHINGTON – An Alex Jones conspiracy theory host who broadcast InfoWars on Friday has pleaded guilty to storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Owen Shroyer accepted that he trespassed and remained on restricted grounds during the riots, telling the court that he entered the west front of the Capitol and stood on piles of chairs and other equipment with another person, believed to be InfoWars founder Alex Jones .
He said he then headed to the east side of the Capitol.
“Americans are ready to fight,” Shroyer admitted to telling a crowd gathered at Freedom Plaza for a rally in support of then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 5, 2021, according to court documents. «We’re not sure what that will look like in maybe a couple of weeks if we can’t stop this certification of the fraudulent election of Joe Biden.»
Shroyer also called the rallygoers «the new revolution» and said they would «restore» and «save the republic.»
On January 6, 2021, he picked up a megaphone and compared the mob of rioters to American patriots fighting in 1776, saying, «Today, January 6, we declare death to tyranny! Death to tyrants! Death to tyrants! Death to tyrants!»
Shroyer faces up to six months in federal prison, and his sentencing hearing is set for September 12 at 10 a.m.
Most of the more than 1,000 January 6 defendants who have been indicted thus far entered the US Capitol or committed acts of violence or destruction outside.
Shroyer’s case is unique in that he had previously signed a deferred prosecution agreement in another case, related to a 2020 incident in which he disrupted a congressional hearing. As part of that deal, she agreed not to utter «strong, threatening, or abusive language, or engage in any disorderly or disruptive conduct, anywhere on the grounds of the United States Capitol.»