A Springfield man accused of carrying a Trump flag onto the floor of the U.S. Senate during the Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Friday to 14 months in prison.
Thomas B. Adams, Jr., 41, was found guilty earlier this year of entering a restricted building and obstructing an official proceeding. He also will have to pay $2,000 in restitution and serve a 36-month probation.
Adams was among the rioters who broke into the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, according to court documents from the U.S. attorney’s office. Adams entered the Capitol building and walked past a line of Capitol police officers into the Senate chambers.
Adams, carrying a Trump flag, took photos on his phone while on the Senate floor, court documents say. He was on the floor for about five minutes before being escorted out of the building by police officers.
After he was removed from the Capitol, Adams gave an interview to the publication Insider, according to court documents.
The article said Adams — spurred by President Trump’s claim that he had been cheated out of victory — trampled over police barricades, made his way into the Capitol and eventually reached the Senate chamber after lawmakers had been evacuated.
The article also quoted Adams saying, “It was a really fun time” and described the scene as “hilarious.”
Adams was interviewed by the FBI in February 2021 and admitted to agents he was on the Senate floor on Jan. 6, according to court documents.
He told agents while he was inside the Capitol, he wondered, “What are they going to do if half a million people are here and standing inside of a building and want to be heard?”
The feds say Adams admitted recording videos of himself and a friend inside the Capitol building. He also allegedly took additional photos and videos.
Adams said he entered the building from the back door, where people had breached with window washing equipment, court documents said.
Adams allegedly said he heard people yelling “Let’s take the White House,” “Let’s storm this place and show them they can’t make us leave,” and “They can’t arrest us all.”
Adams also confirmed to an FBI agent that he was the person in a photograph holding a Trump flag on the Senate floor.
Adams went to Washington, D.C., to protest legally at the invitation of President Trump, who told his supporters the election results were incorrect, according to a court memo outlining his defense.
He never engaged in any violence during the Capitol breach, the memo said, and he regrets joining the crowd that entered the building.
