BROWNSTOWN, Mich. – A Michigan man was sentenced to nine months in prison for his part in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Anthony Puma, 50, of Brownstown, Michigan, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding.
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On Wednesday, he was sentenced to nine months in prison, two years of supervised release, a $500 fine and restitution of $2,000.
‘I just scaled that (expletive) wall’
Puma strapped a Go-Pro camera to his head and was recording as he marched from his hotel near the Freedom Plaza to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to officials.
He entered the restricted area, approached a wall on the Capitol’s west side and urged others to move forward and clear the way for others attempting to climb a wall. Puma climbed a different wall on the north side of the Capitol and then reached the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace.
As he approached the Capitol’s west front on the Senate side, he told other rioters that he would ignore the curfew.
“I just scaled that [expletive] wall,” he said. “They probably evacuated everybody already here.”
Minutes later he entered the Capitol building through a shattered window near the Senate wing door. He marched through a corridor toward the Crypt of the Capitol.
Officials said Puma entered a Senator’s office where other rioters were smoking marijuana. Puma asked if he could join them. Next he went into a Congressional room where other rioters were gathering.
After he exited the Capitol he began live streaming videos from his cellphone on social media. In one video he said, “We got tear gassed. Now we just tried storming it again, and we got pepper sprayed.”
Puma stayed on Capitol grounds even though officers were pushing the rioters back.
Puma sends warning to Facebook friend: ‘It will shock the world’
On Jan. 10, 2021, Puma sent a warning to a friend on Facebook saying, “Watch what is to come in the next two weeks to month. It will shock the world.”
He was arrested on May 27, 2021. He pleaded guilty on August 30, 2022. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Detroit and Washington Field Offices.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 999 people have been arrested in nearly ever U.S. state for crimes related to the insurrection. More than 320 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information can call the FBI at 800-225-5324 or visit tips.fbi.gov.