Marc Anthony Bru, 44, of Vancouver, Wash. was sentenced to 72 months' imprisonment on Wednesday for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the Capitol building. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI |
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Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A Washington state member of the Proud Boys who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has been sentenced to six years behind bars, according to the Justice Department, which said he expressed "no remorse" for his actions.
Marc Anthony Bru, 44, of Vancouver, Wash., was among the first to breach the perimeter on the west side of the Capitol grounds that January day when a mob of then-President Donald Trump supporters stormed Congress to prevent lawmakers inside from certifying Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.
Bru spent about 13 minutes inside the Capitol building, during which the Justice Department said he is documented taking selfies while flashing Proud Boys hand signs with the Senate Floor behind him where minutes prior Secret Service was evacuating officials, including then-Vice President Mike Pence and his family.
He was convicted following a bench trial in October on seven charges, including five misdemeanor offenses and two felonies for obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Chief Judge James Boasberg handed him a jail sentence of 72 months and 36 months of surprised release. Bru was also ordered to pay a $7,946 fine and $2,000 in restitution.
"You could give me 100 years and I would still do it all over again," Bru told Boasberg during Wednesday's sentencing hearing, according to a release from the Justice Department.
Prosecutors said that Bru, a member of the Proud Boys, flew Jan. 5, 2021, from Portland, Ore., to Washington, D.C., where he was prepared for violence and was intent on preventing the certification of the Electoral College vote and instead of attending Trumps' "Stop the Steal" rally, marched on the Capitol.
He was arrested March 30, 2021, after a tipster contacted the FBI a month earlier informing agents that Bru had told them prior to the seige that he intended to travel to Washington, D.C., to "witness history in the making," according to the statement of facts.
When the tipster asked Bru for clarification, Bru replied: "You are about to see, it's going to be big."
While on pretrial release, Bru was arrested twice more -- once in Idaho and the other time in Montana, but both times for driving while under the influence.
More than 1,265 people have been charged with Jan. 6-related offense across the country, including more than 440 people with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the Justice Department.
