Jenna Ryan, 51, has become a polarizing figure online since tweeting last March that she won't go to jail for her role in the US Capitol riots on Jan. 6.
"Definitely not going to jail. Sorry I have blonde hair white skin a great job a great future and I'm not going to jail. Sorry to rain on your hater parade. I did nothing wrong," Ryan tweeted on March 21, 2021.
Ryan's comments online didn't help her case, and she was later sentenced by a judge to 60 days in jail for her role on Jan. 6.
Since the riots, the Texas realtor has attempted to turn into a right-wing media personality. She spoke to NBC News in an interview on Dec. 16, five days before she reported to prison, and attempted to apologize for entering the Capitol.
However, Ryan compared the backlash she's received to "the Jews in Germany."
“They’re making fun of my skin color. They’re calling me an ‘insurrection Barbie,’” Ryan said.
“They have no idea who I am as a person, what my beliefs are, what I’ve been through, who I am," Ryan said. "They see me as a one-dimensional caricature. They don’t see me as a human.”
"And so, that is the epitome of a scapegoat. Just like they did that to the Jews in Germany. Those were scapegoats. And I believe that people who are Caucasian are being turned into evil in front of the media.”
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When asked specifically if she was comparing her situation to the Holocaust, she held back.
“You know what’s so sad?” Ryan said. “That I’m afraid to answer your question because I will be attacked for saying that.”
Ryan's 60-day sentence is among the more severe for Capitol defendants that were not accused of vandalism or engaging in violence. Prosecutors said that she only spent two minutes inside the Capitol. Although, most of the Capitol defendants have kept a low profile after arrests were made.
Ryan has used her popularity to grow a following by backing former President Donald Trump's claims of election fraud. Her heavy social media use was well document before the riots. She even recorded herself in a Facebook Live video inside the Capitol during the riots.
“You guys, will you believe this?” Ryan said on Facebook Live while inside the Capitol, according to the sentencing memo. “I am not messing around. When I come to sell your house, this is what I will do. I will f---ing sell your house.”
Ryan has since launched a podcast and a blog to boost her media personality, where she discusses COVID-19 vaccine misinformation to other conspiracies around the Capitol riots.
She was facing up to six months in prison, but eventually plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol. Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper for the District of Columbia to sentence her to 60 days.
“For better or worse, you’ve become one of the faces of January 6,” Cooper said.
“People will want to know how she was sentenced, and the sentence should tell them we take it seriously,” he added.
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