A Texas real estate agent who was part of the pro-Trump crowd that attacked the Capitol said on Monday that she was simply following Donald Trump’s orders, even as she faced federal charges for her part in the uprising.
“I don’t have guilt in my heart,” Jenna Ryan told NBC News. “I am glad I was there because I witnessed history. And I will never have a chance to do that again. “
Ryan, who flew to Washington on a private jet, said she made the trip “in solidarity with President Trump.”
“President Trump requested that we be in Washington on January 6,” she said. “So this was our way of stopping the stealing.”
Trump still insists that the election was stolen by Joe Biden via massive electoral fraud, an unfounded claim that was repeatedly thrown out of court and rejected by the U.S. Department of Justice and republican state officials.
Trump was charged with instigating the violent attack on the Capitol and was impeached a second time. His supporters in the Republican Party and right-wing media insist he did not, claims that contradict Trump’s own words when he told supporters to “fight like hell.”
“I’m listening to my president tell me to go to the Capitol,” she told CBS in a previous interview.
Ryan told NBC that her “main concern” at the meeting before the Capitol attack was that “there were no porta-potties … because I always want to know I have a bathroom nearby.”
She then left a trail of social media posts documenting her participation in the uprising, including a photo next to a broken window and a video where she said, “We are armed and dangerous. This is just the beginning. “
A livestream on Facebook showed Ryan entering the Capitol, promoting her real estate business, and saying, “We’re going to get the hell in here. Life or death.”
Five people died as a result of the attack, including a police officer who confronted Trump supporters, one rioters shot by police and another Trump supporter who was crushed by the crowd.
Ryan, who is also a life coach and radio host, is accused of disorderly behavior and knowingly entering a restricted area.
She told NBC that while she joined a crowd that broke into the Capitol, where some rioters ransacked offices and sought lawmakers to kidnap and kill, some chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” she was not in favor of aggression.
“If you look up the term ‘storm’, you can storm in the kitchen,” she said. ‘You can rush in and say’ no more ‘. I’m not rushing in to kill people. What I meant, “life or death,” is that if someone kills me, I will stand for my truth, even if someone kills me. “
Like other members of the Mafia, Ryan has asked Trump for a pardon.
It is unclear whether Trump will include one of the rioters in a list of about 100 people he intends to pardon in his final days in office. Allies have warned.
Trump met with White House advisers, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, to wrap up the list. According to CNN, it probably includes white-collar criminals and a high-profile rapper.
Ryan said she wouldn’t hold it against Trump if there wasn’t a pardon.
“I’m going to support him whatever he does,” she said.