Richard Bryan Watrous

Case Summary

Richard Watrous was initially identified from surveillance footage of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to a criminal complaint. FBI agents say he was wearing a distinctive red "Trump" hat when he entered the Capitol and then could be seen leaving after a few minutes inside. When he was interviewed by law enforcement, Watrous allegedly said his trip to Washington, D.C., was planned as soon as he heard former President Trump urging people to go. He allegedly said he drove to D.C. from his New York home despite the fact that he did not feel he could have any effect on the proceedings in Congress. According to court documents, Watrous attended the rally at the Ellipse the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, and then made his way to the Capitol, where he said there were already people there, and he could hear flashbangs and was aware of tear gas even though he was fairly far away from the building. When he allegedly entered the Capitol building, he told agents, he heard someone yell, "they just killed a girl!"; agents believe that the person was referring to the shooting of Ashli Babbitt. Once inside, Watrous reportedly said that he felt uncomforable and thought, “This is crazy. What the hell is going on here?” He went on to say that people around him "seemed like troublemakers and did not seem like peaceful protestors," court documents indicate. He claims he witnessed a man who had said he was going into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office holding a bottle of wine and saying "I got Nancy Pelosi's wine!" Watrous told agents that he was inside the Capitol for about five minutes before he left, going back into the Rotunda briefly before returning to his hotel.

Case History

Watrous pleaded Guilty to one charge: Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on 4/21/2022 to 14 days intermittent incarceration; 36 months of probation; 60 days home confinement; $2,500 fine; $500 restitution; $10 special assessment. Watrous 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.