Prison Sentence Handed to Student Who Sat in Pence’s Seat on Jan. 6

This image from U.S. Senate video, introduced at the trial of Bruno Joseph Cua, shows Mr. Cua sitting with his feet up in the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021. Senate Television via AP

One of the youngest people ever to be charged in a Jan. 6 case, a then-high school student who sat in former Vice President Mike Pence’s chair during the Capitol incident, was on Wednesday sentenced to one year behind bars.

Judge Randolph D. Moss issued the sentencing decision on July 26 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to court documents.

At the hearing, the judge ordered Bruno Joseph Cua, who was 18 when he entered the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, and sat in a Senate floor chair reserved for the vice president, to serve one year in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release.

Mr. Cua, now 21, apologized in court for his actions on Jan. 6, telling the judge that “everything that day was just one terrible decision after another,” according to The Associated Press.

People outside the U.S. Capitol, on Jan. 6, 2021. John Minchillo/AP Photo

‘Tragic Case’

The judge was cited in the report as saying he was prepared to hand down a more severe sentence but relented after hearing Mr. Cua’s statement in court, saying he thinks the defendant showed genuine remorse.

“It’s a tragic case for the country. It’s a tragic case for you and your family,” the judge said, per AP. “There are no winners in any of this.”

Mr. Moss decided the case against Mr. Cua without a jury in February 2023, convicting him of obstructing the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding and assaulting a federal officer.

DC Metropolitan Police Department riot officers clash with protesters on the west front of the U.S. Capitol, on Jan. 6, 2021. Steve Baker/Special to The Epoch Times

‘Detached From Reality’

Prosecutors had argued for a much longer sentence of nearly five years, saying Mr. Cua planned his actions weeks in advance, brought weapons to the Capitol, tried to terrorize congressional staffers, and was repeatedly aggressive toward police.

Mr. Cua’s attorneys, by contrast, argued in court documents (pdf) that prosecutors’ sentencing recommendations were “detached from reality” and sought to portray the defendant’s actions as violent where they were “fairly mundane.”

“In an effort to force this sentencing into a category of J6 cases it does not belong, the government has distorted the underlying facts, exaggerated Mr. Cua’s role in the events of that day, and attempted to transform fairly mundane actions that caused no physical damage or harm (e.g., ”running,“ ”rushing,“ ”knocking,“ ”sitting“), into violent acts deserving many life-ruining years in prison,” they wrote.

Mr. Cua’s lawyers said that their client is well aware that his words and presence in the Capitol on Jan. 6 were harmful to government institutions and that he “fully recognizes the seriousness of his actions” and is “profoundly remorseful.”

They disputed the claim that Mr. Cua carried pepper spray and a baton that day in order to use them but instead carried them in self-defense.

“Mr. Cua’s failure actually to use either of these items against anyone, of course, further supports this view,” they wrote. “Indeed, more physical violence was visited upon Mr. Cua while incarcerated in this case at an Oklahoma jail than he visited upon anyone on January 6.”

Protesters clash with police at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Julio Cortez/AP Photo

Prosecutors insisted in court, however, that Mr. Cua “played a unique and prominent role on January 6, opening the Senate Chamber to the rioters, escalating confrontations, and leading other rioters into and through the Capitol.”

‘Scarred To My Core’

Mr. Cua’s attorneys also argued in court filings that Mr. Cua’s “tender age” at the time of the offense was not the only mitigating factor, as prosecutors had claimed.

Around the time of the Jan. 6 incident, Mr. Cua was finishing online coursework to graduate from high school.

Other mitigating factors that Mr. Cua’s lawyers argued should warrant a less severe sentence included his 40 days spent in various jails, including 32 in solitary confinement, and the fact that he was violently assaulted by an inmate while in jail.

Mr. Cua said he was “scarred to my core” by his time in jail awaiting trial.

“I did something stupid to land myself there, but it was traumatizing,” Mr. Cua said, per AP.

Prosecutors said that when rioters breached police lines on the west side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, Mr. Cua climbed scaffolding and entered the building through the Upper West Terrace doors and walked down a hallway toward the Senate.

“As Cua walked down the hallway, he tried to open every single office door he passed by pulling on doorknobs, pounding on the doors with his fist, and kicking the doors,” prosecutors wrote in court filings. remove

They said Mr. Cua intended to intimidate staffers who were behind the doors as he yelled, “Hey! Where are the swamp rats hiding?”

Mr. Cua went to the third floor, where he shoved a Capitol police officer who was trying to lock doors to the Senate gallery, per court filings.

After the officer retreated, Mr. Cua entered the gallery, shouting “This is our house! This is our country!”

Jumping onto the Senate floor, he sat in the chair reserved for the vice president, leaned back, and propped his feet up on a desk.

Then he opened a door, allowing dozens of other people onto the Senate floor.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.