Pat Stedman, 36, headed to Washington DC to watch Donald Trump deliver his infamous speech outside the White House.
After the speech ended, Pat stormed the Capitol building shouting: “Storming the Capitol!” and “Let’s f****** go!”, the US Attorney’s Office said.
After roaming the halls for 40 minutes, taking selfies on the Speaker’s Balcony, he was expelled by police, the FBI raided his home, he was put on trial, and sentenced to four years in prison, with an order to pay $2,000 in restitution and a $20,000 fine – which he said he paid in full.
On January 20, 2025, Pat found out he was one of the 1,500 people who had received unconditional pardons from Trump.
Pat, a business owner, from New York City, said: “I don’t have regrets about the experience.
“Life is an adventure and you learn from it.
“I take responsibility for my recklessness.
“I have been very fortunate compared to most of the J6ers, I had my own business and a supportive community.
“Don’t get me wrong, prison was hard, my wife and parents had to work hard.
“I have two little kids who were one and three when I went to prison – everyone had to carry the weight financially.”
Pat described himself as an independent voter who had previously voted for Barack Obama.
“I went to Trump specifically because of Trump and not the Republican brand,” he said.
On January 6, 2021, Pat joined thousands of Trump supporters outside the White House.
After the speech ended, the crowd marched down to the Capitol building where the election results were being certified.
Pat said: “I didn’t do anything violent – I was walking through the building and shouting.
“I thought the worst thing to happen was I would receive a $50 fine, I was only in there for 40 minutes.”
While he was in the Capitol, Pat entered the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and headed towards the House Chamber before being expelled from the Capitol.
Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by Capitol police, many people were injured, including 174 police officers and four police officers died by suicide in the months after.
Yet Pat claims: “I don’t think I did anything wrong – there were at least 10,000 people in there.
“The police waved us through, when I went into Pelosi’s office the police were waving us through.”
On January 21, 2021, Pat was on a walk when his wife called to say his home had been raided by the FBI.
He said: “It was traumatic, the FBI had come to pick me up – there were like 16 FBI cars down my street.”
On June 9, 2023, Stedman was convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony, as well as four misdemeanours – including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building.
He was sent to FCI Fort Dix, New Jersey to serve a four-year sentence but only served a year and was released on October 27, 2024, after a September 2024 appeal vacated his felony conviction and returned the charge to the trial court.
The Department of Justice and Stedman reached an agreement in which the felony charge would not be retried, provided Stedman refrained from appealing his misdemeanour convictions.
Pat said: “My initial conditions for release were that I had to ask permission to leave the state, and I couldn’t go to Washington DC.”
On January 20, 2025, in his first full day back in the White House, Donald Trump issued an unconditional pardon for 1500 people who were charged with offences related to January 6th.
Pat said it was a “great feeling” and is “optimistic” about the next four years under Trump.
He said: “It was a surreal moment. We were at an inauguration party.
“I had expected to be pardoned because I was non-violent, but expecting it to happen and it happening are two different things.
“It has been a constant struggle over the past four years, and to have it end with a complete unconditional pardon – it is a relief for sure.”