WASHINGTON — On Friday, a federal judge sentenced a father and son from Butler County to 12 months probation for illegally demonstrating in the United States Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

The charge is a misdemeanor.

Paul Seymour Jr. held a Trump flag as he and his father, Paul Seymour Sr., walked inside the breached Capitol with rioters, and posed for a photo next to a statue of Confederate hero Robert E. Lee, according to documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's office in the District of Columbia.

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia

"I apologize," Seymour Jr. told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. "My ignorance is inexcusable."

The Seymours didn't damage property or physically hurt anyone that day, according to court records.

According to the Department of Justice, the Seymours are among about 900 people charged in the massive federal investigation.

"A riot cannot occur without rioters, and each rioter’s actions — from the most mundane to the most violent — contributed, directly and indirectly, to the violence and destruction of that day," Asst. U.S. Attorney Anita Eve wrote in the government's sentencing memo.

Like thousands of protesters that day, the Seymours traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the "Stop the Steal" rally near the White House to show support for then-President Donald Trump, who claimed without proof that the election was stolen from him.

According to federal prosecutors, the Seymours entered the Capitol building "through broken Senate Wing Doors," after some rioters assaulted officers, and officers had used pepper spray to disperse the crowd and ordered them to leave.

The Seymours were inside the Capitol for "almost 30 minutes parading through the building at will," according to the prosecution's sentencing memo. "After it had grown dark in Washington, D.C. on January 6, the Seymours finally left the restricted grounds of the Capitol. Seymour Jr. posed for a photograph taken of himself in front of a line of police officers who had formed a perimeter outside the Capitol."

Lot Tan

Former U.S. Attorney David DeVillers — a partner with Barnes & Thornburg in Columbus — said this case is another example of the consistent approach prosecutors are using in the massive investigation.

"We don't want anyone to do this again," DeVillers said. "And we're going to send the message that we're going to prosecute everyone for every misdemeanor, for every felony that we can if we can establish that there's probable cause to do so."

The U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. asked the judge to sentence the Seymours to 90 days home confinement and three years probation.

But Judge Mehta said the Seymours hadn't made threats, damaged property, entered anyone's office or physically hurt people. So, that combined with additional factors convinced the judge to hand down a much lighter sentence.

Like his son, Paul Seymour Sr. also apologized during his sentencing hearing.

“I shouldn’t have been there, period," he told the judge.

Seymour Sr. said after he and his son posed for a photo in the Capitol, he told his son, "it's time to walk out of here."

In addition to their probation, the Seymours are also required to perform 60 hours of community service.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump turned to the Supreme Court Thursday in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

A federal appeals court ruled against Trump two weeks ago but prohibited documents held by the National Archives from being turned over before the Supreme Court has a chance to weigh in.

Trump appointed three of the nine justices.

Trump is claiming that as a former president, he has the right to assert executive privilege over the records, arguing that releasing them would damage the presidency in the future.

But President Joe Biden disagreed, saying they were in the public's best interest and that executive privilege shouldn't be invoked, the Associated Press reported.

The news outlets reported that presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts, and handwritten notes “concerning the events of January 6” are included in the document.

The AP reported that the records are vital as part of the investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 riot by the House committee.

PHOENIX — An Arizona man who sported face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns when he joined the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge.

Jacob Chansley is now seeking release from jail while he awaits sentencing.

Chansley was among the first wave of pro-Trump rioters to force its way into the Capitol building and was widely photographed in the Senate chamber with a flagpole topped with a spear.

Chansley pleaded guilty to charges "obstructing an official proceeding." One prosecutor estimated Chansley would face 41 to 51 months in prison under sentencing guidelines.

He had previously been arrested on charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He has been in jail for nearly eight months.

In July, a judge refused to release Chansley from jail ahead of his trial, noting that he was a flight risk.

Chansley, who goes by the moniker "QAnon Shaman," refused to eat in the early days of his incarceration, and his lawyers eventually requested he be given organic food while in jail. Lawyers say his "shamanic belief system and way of life" required him to eat only organic food.

A federal judge granted his request for organic food on Feb. 3.