Owen Shroyer, a colleague of Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones recently has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
According to court documents, Shroyer pleaded guilty in a Washington, D.C. court Friday to a charge of entering or remaining in restricted grounds.
In exchange, prosecutors dropped three other charges against him, including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. In addition, Shroyer agreed to cooperate with authorities who continue to investigate the riots.
HuffPost reported that Shroyer initially pleaded not guilty in August 2021, telling Infowars viewers at the time, “There’s a lot of questions — some I have answers to, some I don’t. I plan on declaring my innocence of these charges because I am.”
The Associated Press reported that Shroyer hosted a daily show called The War Room with Owen Shroyer on Jones’ Infowars platform, where he “promoted baseless claims of 2020 election fraud.”
During the Jan. 6 riot, Shroyer called into the show, saying, “We literally own these streets right now,” according to HuffPost. Prosecutors also had video of Shroyer in a restricted area of the Capitol grounds that was posted to Infowars.
According to the Associated Press, Shroyer used a megaphone outside the Capitol to yell that “Democrats are ‘tyrants’” and “‘Death to tyranny! Death to tyrants!’”
AP added:
Near the top of steps on the Capitol’s east side, Shroyer, who’s from Austin, Texas, led hundreds of rioters in chants of “USA!” and “1776!” He later said in an affidavit that he stood with Jones as Jones tried to deescalate the situation.
Shroyer is expected to be sentenced on Sep. 12. He faces up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $9,500.
