The Department of Justice
- A veteran charged in the Capitol riot was sentenced to home detention and probation on Wednesday.
- Carey Jon Walden expressed remorse for his role in the attack during a sentencing hearing this week.
- Walden’s presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was reported to the FBI by a fellow Marine, per court docs.
A Missouri military veteran expressed remorse for his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack before being sentenced to home detention and probation on Wednesday.
A federal judge sentenced Carey Jon Walden, 48, to 30 days of home detention, three years of probation, and 60 hours of community service. He will also have to pay $500 in restitution toward the $1.5 million in damage to the Capitol building.
Walden, both a Navy and Marine Corps veteran, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing a Capitol building in October.
The veteran initially faced three charges stemming from his participation in the riot, including disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building. But as the government works to prosecute the more than 750 people arrested in connection to the attack, federal prosecutors have offered several Capitol rioters the lesser parading charge in exchange for their guilty pleas.
“If I could take it all back, I would,” Walden told the courtroom, according to The Kansas City Star. “I didn’t see a lot [of] what I saw on TV when I was there. It was a terrible day, and I’m really ashamed of myself that I was part of that.”
According to charging documents, Walden took a bus from Kansas City to DC to attend former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, 2021. Prosecutors said Walden was unemployed and got the bus ticket from a friend.
Walden’s presence at the Capitol on January 6 was reported to the FBI by a fellow Marine who was previously supervised by Walden, according to charging documents. The unnamed tipster told investigators that he saw Walden post Facebook Live videos from the scene of the riot that showed him climbing walls and entering the Capitol. The tipster took multiple screenshots of the posts and sent them to the FBI, according to court documents.
Walden also submitted to a voluntary interview with law enforcement following the siege and provided photos and videos he took, prosecutors said.
The Department of Justice.
The veteran did not injure anyone, damage property, or carry weapons during the attack, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich said in court on Wednesday, but he was prepared for possible violence when he traveled to Washington, DC, prosecutors said in a prior sentencing recommendation.
“He brought a gas mask apparatus and wore it inside the US Capitol Building,” the document said.
Prosecutors emphasized that Walden’s more than 12 years of service in both the Navy and Marine Corps, made his conduct on January 6 “all the more troubling.”
In a letter to the judge earlier this month, Walden emphasized his remorse, saying he got “caught up in the moment.”
“The smart thing to have done would have been to just stay away from all of it, and I didn’t do that,” he said. “I had no desire to destroy property, attack police officers or try and overthrow the government, and I did NOT do those things.”
An attorney for Walden did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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