A man who stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, and smoked weed on top of broken furniture in Sen. Jeffrey Merkley’s (D-Oregon) office was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison on Thursday. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release on Leap Day, Feb. 29, describing the man’s sentences. Brandon Craig Fellows, 29, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden to 37 months in prison, plus an additional five months for a contempt of court charge. In total, Fellows was sentenced to 42 months.

Many people heeded the call to make their way to Washington, D.C. shortly after the 2020 election. “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Donald Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, 2020. “Be there, will be wild!” Weeks later, thousands of supporters gathered at the U.S. Capitol building in an event that left five dead within a 36-hour time period.

Days after Jan. 6, 2021, Fellows posted on social media, “Brought my heart joy to see these members terrified for their lives. For what they have done and are doing to this country I hope they live in constant fear.”

“I have no regrets. I didn’t hurt anyone. I didn’t break anything,” Fellows told Bloomberg, five days after storming the Capitol. “I did trespass though, I guess.”

Then on Jan. 16, 2021, Fellows was arrested by FBI agents in New York. The investigation involved the FBI’s Washington and New York field offices, with assistance provided by the New York State Police, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Fellows was convicted on Aug. 31, 2023, of obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony, and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol building, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. The DOJ also says that Fellows heckled two U.S. Capitol police officers while he was inside.

What Happened That Day

Fellows made and wore a fake beard out of red yarn, a hat in the shape of a knight’s helmet, sunglasses, and carried a “Trump 2020” flag and a trash can lid that he says he used as a shield. Per federal court documents, on Jan 6. 2021, Fellows stationed himself at the Ellipse near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally and listen to Donald Trump’s speech. 

Fellows followed the massive crowd toward the Capitol building, approaching the building from the west side and fought his way to the Upper West Terrace. From his position, in front of thousands of Capitol stormers on the West Plaza and the West Lawn, Fellows posted a video.

“Oh bro, we’re gonna get gassed soon,” Fellows says in the video. I heard windows just break.”

Fellows made his way around, then filmed/incriminated another man breaking down the Parliamentary Door with a cane.

Fellows crawled through a broken window at about 2:52 p.m. and walked through the Senate Wing Door, waving a “Trump 2020” flag. Once inside, Fellows stood on top of broken furniture and waved the flag some more. He walked into a congressional conference room and then walked across the hall to the private office of Sen. Jeffrey Merkley. 

“I walked in and there’s just a whole bunch of people lighting up in some Oregon room… they were smoking a bunch of weed in there,” he later told a reporter. Fellows was photographed smoking marijuana in Merkley’s office with his feet up on a desk. He next went to the Crypt and walked around. He eventually left the Capitol about 3:45 p.m…

While inside the office, Fellows sat in a chair, put his feet up on a conference table, and smoked some weed. Another stormer, who was live streaming, asked Fellows, “What is your message?” Fellows replied, “Man, oh man, we got pissed. We ripped it out of the hands of these police officers,” followed by a round of laughter.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

So far, over 1,313 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, with over 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

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