Jenna Ryan says it all started with an invitation from a ‘very cute guy’ on Facebook: Would she connect him with a private jet to the Trump rally on January 6 in Washington, DC?
The decision was easy. Ryan, a real estate agent in Dallas, is unmarried and likes President Donald Trump and believes the discredited claim that the election was riddled with fraud.
But the journey did not have a happy ending.
Within 48 hours of her return to Texas, social media reports by Ryan, who entered the Capitol with a crowd of Trump supporters, were shared with the FBI and she would soon be the target of a federal investigation.
She did not get the guy either. He beat it up with another woman, she says.
“He was adorable,” Ryan told NBC News. ‘And there was another adorable girl there, and they finally got together.
Ryan, 50, was arrested last Friday on charges of disorderly conduct and the fact that he knowingly entered a restricted area.
But in a free and sometimes belligerent interview, she expressed no regrets about participating in the Capitol attack and said she believes she did not commit any crimes.
“I have no guilt feelings in my heart,” says Ryan, who is also a life coach and radio host. “It simply came to our notice then. I did not want rioting. I documented what was going on in the area I was in. ”
“I’m glad I was there,” she added later in the interview. “Because I watched history. And I’ll never get a chance to do that again … Nobody’s likely to ever get close [the Capitol] again. ”
Ryan also downplayed the inflammatory language she used in her social media posts on the day of the Capitol violation. In one video that was shot before she went to the building, Ryan said, “We’re going to storm the Capitol.”
In the interview, she said she did not suggest an act of aggression.
‘If you look up the term storm, you can storm into the kitchen. You can rush in and say, ‘Not anymore,’ Ryan said. “I do not rush to kill people. What I mean, life or death, is if someone kills me, I will stand for my truth, even if someone kills me. ”
The fateful trip to Washington came together at the last minute.
Ryan said the attractive stranger reached out to her on Facebook two days before the planned rally.
She had always wanted to attend a MAGA event, and the idea of taking a private jet to get to one just suited her well. But first she made sure her best friend Brian, who was also her ‘bodyguard’, could join.
“I always watch all these MAGA rallies, so I said, ‘Heck, let’s go,'” she said. “I mean, who’s not going to get on a private plane?”
The trip to Washington was wonderful, she said. The handful of people on the flight drank and got to know each other. Ryan took a moment to take a photo in the cabin and post it on her Facebook page.
“We went in solidarity with President Trump,” she said. “President Trump has requested that we be at DC at 6 p.m. So that was our way of stopping the steal. ”
After spending the night in a DC hotel, they woke up around 6am, put on their ‘Trump stuff’ and set off to mingle with other ‘like-minded patriots’.
The group ended up being too far back in the crowd to hear the speeches of the president, Rudy Giuliani and others. But Ryan had a more urgent problem.
“There were no portapots,” she said. “We could not get to a porta-potjie.”
“That was my biggest concern actually,” she added. ‘Where’s the porta potjie? Because I always like to know that I have a bathroom in the area. ”
They finally returned to their hotel to warm up. They were shocked by what they saw on TV as Vice President Mike Pence leading a joint session of Congress to confirm the outcome of the November election.
“We watched as Pence accepted the fraudulent election – which we believe is fraudulent,” she said.
“We were devastated,” she said. “It was like my father – someone I love, someone I respect – just someone else I love, betray and I respect, the country included … I could not believe it.”
Ryan said she did not want to leave the hotel again – ‘I think we walked 20,000 steps that day’, but decided to go to the Capitol with her friends.
“I did not want to be alone in the hotel,” she said.
At one point before walking out of the hotel, she posted a video that has since been removed on her Facebook page showing her talking to the camera in front of a mirror in the bathroom.
“We are going to go down and storm the capital,” she said, according to federal prosecutors. “They are down there now and that’s why we came and that’s what we’re going to do. So congratulate me. ”
Ryan said they moved to the Capitol stairs. In one of the many tracks she shot in the middle of the crowd and posted online. Ryan calls Mitch “turtle level” McConnell, complains that she has to go to the bathroom and then says, ‘We are armed and dangerous. That’s just the beginning. “
In court documents, prosecutors said a Facebook video taken by Ryan – captured before the removal and posted on YouTube – shows her entering the Capitol building via the Rotunda entrance.
‘We’re going in here. Life or death, ”she said at the beginning of the video, according to prosecutors. ‘It does not matter. Here we go. “
When she reaches the top of the stairs, Ryan turns on her rear camera and says, ‘You all know who to hire your realtor for. Jenna Ryan for your broker, ”according to prosecutors.
At one point, Ryan poses for a photo in front of a broken window and posts it on Twitter. ‘Window at the capital [sic]”She wrote, according to federal prosecutors. “And if the news does not stop lying about us, we will follow their studios next time …”
In the interview with NBC News, Ryan admitted that she entered the building after showing pictures of her, but she said she was only two minutes inside and left because she felt uncomfortable.
As she continued to put pressure on the violent language she used in her videos, Ryan tilted.
“If you want to skew me in the media and make me look like a violent person because it fits your storyline, then you know, it’s something you’ll have to live with in your life,” she said. ‘Because I know my heart was going to go there and make my voice heard, no matter what. And I stood on the steps of the Capitol and did what I did. And I did pray. ”
Five people were killed during the riot, including a police officer and a woman who were shot by police.
Ryan said she felt terrible about the loss of life, but insisted she believed she had not broken any laws
“I personally feel innocent in everything I have done,” she said. “I feel like I was completely within my rights. I feel like the police officers led people into the Capitol. There were thousands of people there. I have no guilt feelings in my heart. ”
Ryan borrowed one of Trump’s signature phrases to describe how she now feels as a target of the FBI.
“The FBI is coming to my house for an offense,” she said. ‘Take my MAGA hat. Well? They took my MAGA hat. ”
Ryan also said she “gave up on America” and would not vote again because she believed the electoral system was corrupt.
She said she remains convinced that the result was fraudulent, even though election officials in all 50 states have certified it and rejected dozens of judges, including Republicans and even some appointed by Trump.
“It did not put me off,” Ryan says. “No one heard the evidence,” she added.
She now fears that all Trump supporters will be branded terrorists and silenced under President Joe Biden.
And she called on President Trump to forgive her and the other violent protesters. But if he does not, Ryan has said she will not hold it against him.
“I will support him no matter what he does,” she said.