Jacob Lewis

Case Summary

Jacob Lewis owns a fitness business in Victorville, Calif., and is known locally as a face of the anti-coronavirus restriction movement there. According to numerous local media reports, he refused to keep his gym closed after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered nonessential businesses to shutter in order to try to tamp down the spread of the coronavirus. When he reopened the gym in May, Lewis raised an American flag out front and set up a cardboard cutout of the Constitution for customers to pose next to for selfies. Now, according to court documents, he stands accused of breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The court documents say he told a friend back in December 2020 to “watch what happens to the Capitol on the 6th.” On Jan.15, 2021, law enforcement officials sat down with Lewis in Victorville, and he said he’d traveled to D.C. to attend the rally and had walked to the Capitol and went inside, according to court documents. But he said he was “escorted” by the police. U.S. Capitol Police video captured someone who officials believe was Lewis breaching the Senate Wing door, walking through the Hall of Columns and the crypt and then exiting a short time later. There is no evidence, the court documents said, that Lewis was escorted in any way.

Case History

Lewis pleaded Guilty to one charge: Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced 4/14/2022 to 24 months probation; $3,000 fine; $500 restitution; $10 special assessment; 60 hours of community service. Lewis 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.