Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 19
- Location
- Cary, North Carolina
- Charges
- Civil Disorder; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings; Destruction of Government Property and Aiding and Abetting; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Dismissed in part or full; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
Court documents say that Aiden Bilyard helped break one of the windows through which many people, including Bilyard, breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Bilyard can allegedly be seen in multiple images from that day — some of them show a young man with long, dirty-blond hair, wearing a black jacket over a gray hoodie that appears to read “Harvard.” Later, Bilyard was dubbed #HarvardSweats by the online group Sedition Hunters, which sought to identify some of the people who breached the Capitol that day. According to the charging documents, Bilyard was among the throng of rioters clutching a large gold canister of what is believed to be “bear spray,” which he sprayed at a group of police officers trying to secure the building. An officer who was on the receiving end of that spray found himself incapacitated by it. Later in the afternoon, Bilyard is allegedly seen in video footage egging on another rioter who's trying to break a window of the Capitol. According to court documents, Bilyard was handed a bat, shattered the window and entered a Senate room through the broken window. Bilyard was reportedly identified from a previous booking photo and a Facebook profile associated with him in which he can be seen wearing the Harvard sweatshirt. Later, Bilyard’s mother reportedly retrieved the hoodie and gave it to the FBI. Agents followed up with Bilyard later when he was in basic training for the U.S. Air Force, where he allegedly admitted that he was on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, but said he did not break any laws. When he was shown videos of his apparent participation in unlawful activities, he ended his conversation with the FBI, saying, “I think this is where I take my leave.”
Case History
Bilyard pleaded Guilty to one charge: Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on 3/17/2023 to 40 months incarceration; 3 years supervised release; Special Assessment of $100; Restitution of $3,500. Bilyard received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR - Supporting Reporting
NPR video evidence pageNPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.