Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 23
- Location
- Silver Spring, Maryland
- Charges
- Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Entering and Remaining in Certain Rooms in the Capitol Building; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building or Grounds; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
Bryan Betancur is a self-professed white supremacist, according to court documents. The FBI affidavit for Betancur outlines a long list of violent statements he has allegedly made, including his professed desire to carry out a school shooting, run people over with a car, kill people in a church and be a "lone wolf killer." He has voiced support, according to the FBI, for the man convicted of killing Heather Heyer with his car during the 2017 Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Betancur has reportedly said he has changed his mind about wanting to hurt people, according to the FBI. Betancur has previously been convicted of fourth-degree burglarly. He received permission from his parole officer's supervisor to leave Maryland on Jan. 6, 2021, in order to distribute Bibles with an organization, according to court documents. Betancur's court-ordered GPS monitoring device showed him in the vicinity of the Capitol for around three hours that afternoon, according to the FBI. Betancur also posted images of himself at the Capitol on social media, including a photo of himself holding a Confederate flag and another where he is wearing a Proud Boys shirt and flashing the “OK” hand signal, a white supremacist gesture that stands for "white power." On Jan. 8, 2021, he called his parole officer and said he was inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and was paranoid about photographs people had taken of him. He later recanted that he was inside the Capitol, according to court documents.
Case History
Betancur pleaded Guilty to one charge, Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds. Sentenced on 8/10/2022 to 4 months of incarceration, 12 months of supervised release, $500 restitution and $25 special assessment. Betancur 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
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.