South Carolina couple who called Jan. 6 ‘peaceful’ pleads guilty to misdemeanor charge

WASHINGTON (CN) — A South Carolina couple who yelled “This is war! We’re storming the Capitol” and then later posted on Facebook that the event was completely peaceful, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building on Thursday. 

“Us patriots were peaceful and literally sharing hand warmers and singing and being vocal. Not one weapon. Not one fire,” Stacie Hargis-Getsinger wrote on Facebook.

Stacie, who sells exotic pets for a living, posted that some of the people near the Capitol building looked like members of Antifa. She, along with her husband, John Getsinger, had taken a bus up from South Carolina to attend Trump’s Stop the Steal rally, walked over to the Capitol, and wandered through the Capitol rotunda. 

“Since the FBI is crooked too, all we can do is pray and contact … Donald Trump if they try to arrest you,” John’s friend told him in a Facebook message. Another friend told them, “I think you’re ok. You didn’t do anything wrong. They know who did what.”

The couple faces up to six months in prison, though will likely receive a much milder sentence. 

Another Capitol rioter who blamed Antifa for the violence on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty to one count of entering a restricted building or grounds on Thursday. Annie Howell, of Pennsylvania said she was personally teargassed eight times at the Capitol. 

“The news is lying to you. Some of these people, were antifa,” Howell wrote, explaining how she saw one woman get shot, another get beaten, and others get pelted with rubber bullets and tear gassed. “Thousands fell to their feet and couldn’t see or breathe. They wouldn’t stop and beat us relentlessly.”

Later on Thursday, a Capitol rioter who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor unlawful picketing charge was sentenced to 18 months of probation. 

Andrew Wrigley, a 26-year-old from Pennsylvania, only entered the Capitol for one minute. Later, he posted on Facebook that he “went inside the Capitol building and got tear gassed.” 

Prosecutors recommended two months home detention, but U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson went even lower. 

“I should’ve had common sense and judgment,” Wrigley told Jackson. 

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