L-R: Kayli Munn, Kristi Munn, Dawn Munn, Tom Munn, and Josh Munn (image via FBI court filing).
A member of the Texas family that traveled to Washington, D.C., ahead of Jan. 6 and apparently ended up storming the Capitol building has pleaded guilty.
Joshua Munn, 24, admitted in court what he appears to have acknowledged on social media: that he was one of the Donald Trump supporters, angry over the results of the 2020 presidential election, who participated in the Capitol attack.
“Before you hear it on the news I am I [sic] family marched on DC today it was extremely cool we did enter the Capitol building,” Munn wrote on Facebook on Jan. 6, adding that he and his family were part of the “second group” of rioters that went into the building.
“[T]here was no violence from the protesters at all it all came from the police believe it or not,” Munn also wrote, adding: “It was super cool everything was cool till the cop used tear gas that is when people got mad but still never hurt anyone.”
In response to a comment on his post asking Munn how he got into the building, he indicated that he and his family entered through a window that had already been broken.
On Thursday, during a hearing before before Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, Munn pleaded guilty to one charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. The misdemeanor charge carries a potential one year jail sentence and five years of probation, plus a maximum fine of $5,000.
Munn admitted to driving to Washington from Borger, Texas with his mother Dawn Munn, father Tom Munn, and sisters Kayli Munn and Kristi Munn ahead of Jan. 6 with the purpose of protesting Congress’ certification of Joe Biden‘s electoral win.
He attended Trump’s so-called “Stop the Steal” rally and then, along with his family, joined the march to the Capitol building. Once there, he entered through a broken window at the Senate Wing doors and spent around 50 minutes inside the building, stopping in the Capitol rotunda and crypt before ultimately leaving the same way he came in.
Munn said that inside the Capitol he saw some altercations between police and other Trump supporters who had breached the building.
“From what I could witness, I noticed someone sprayed a can of something into an officer’s face and that [escalated] into kind of a scuffle where a few people were detained,” Munn said during his plea agreement hearing Thursday. “Other than that I did not witness any aggression from either the crowd or police.”
Munn explained that he was exaggerating in his Facebook posts.
“I was still trying to calm myself down so I tried to make myself bigger,” Munn told Howell. “I do regret trying to paint the officers as bad guys in that situation. They were just doing their job.”
Munn said that he hadn’t intended to go to Washington to join the rally and protest, but that once his parents offered to pay his way, he was all in.
“I was using my money to move from Texas to Wisconsin to live with my sister for the time being so I could get my own home,” Munn told Howell. “That’s why I was hesitant in going, so they offered to pay for my side of it. So I said I’d be happy to go.”
Under the plea deal, Munn will also pay $500 in restitution to the damage done to the U.S. Capitol. Until recently, that amount had been estimated at around $1.5 million, but as Howell noted at Thursday’s hearing, officials now suggest that the damage caused is closer to $2.7 million.
Howell, a Barack Obama appointee, set sentencing for Aug. 18, at which time the remaining charges against Munn—all misdemeanors—will be dismissed.
[Images via FBI court filing.]
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