Woman Who Held ‘Q’ Sign on Jan. 6 Convicted by Jury

In a file image from video, Therese Borgerding stands outside the U.S. Capitol, on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. Department of Justice via The Epoch Times

A 61-year-old Ohio woman has been convicted on a felony charge for her actions on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors announced on April 29.

Jurors convicted Therese Borgerding, the Ohio resident, on five counts.

A lawyer for Ms. Borgerding did not respond to a query. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia declined to comment.

Ms. Borgerding was charged in a superseding indictment in late 2023 with a felony count of civil disorder and four misdemeanors after initially only being charged with misdemeanors.

According to charging documents, Ms. Borgerding moved metal barricades outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and entered restricted grounds after the barricades were moved aside. She was photographed holding a “Q” sign.

Some Capitol riot defendants have expressed support for QAnon, a compilation of theories about elites, including belief in large sex trafficking networks such as the one run by the late Jeffrey Epstein.

Ms. Borgerding was later spotted in surveillance footage entering the Capitol itself and walking inside. Relations of Ms. Borgerding and her husband helped identify the couple, an FBI agent said in one filing.

In one Facebook post provided by one of the relatives, Ms. Borgerding wrote, “YES I was inside the Capitol Building for a longtime.”

She added, “You don’t know The Truth [about] what really happened.”

In another post, she said that law enforcement officers “were very friendly and held the door for us to come in the Capitol building!”

Jurors convicted Ms. Borgerding after U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly prevented her from showing the jury a video that showed a U.S. Capitol Police officer telling a demonstrator that he would seek permission from supervisors to allow demonstrators to ascend the Capitol steps on Jan. 6, according to a defense filing.

She was going to argue that it was fair to infer that she heard about the message because it was repeated on a megaphone by the demonstrator who spoke to the officer, and that the message “played a part in her state of mind when she ran toward the steps of the Capitol.”

Judge Kelly, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, also rejected an attempt to dismiss the case for alleged vindictive prosecution.

Judge Kelly is scheduled to sentence Ms. Borgerding on Aug. 15.

She faces up to eight years in prison, as well as supervised release and fines. The felony count carries a maximum term of six years.

Walter Messer, a codefendant, previously received 24 months of probation after pleading guilty to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, in exchange for other counts being dropped.

Utah Man Sentenced

The conviction came after John Sullivan, who was also convicted in the Capitol breach, was sentenced to six years in prison.

Mr. Sullivan, 29, of Utah, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Sullivan was found guilty of a host of offenses, including obstructing an official proceeding and illegal possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds or in Capitol buildings.

Mr. Sullivan, who expressed support for Black Lives Matter and other causes in social media posts and interviews leading up to Jan. 6, sold some of the footage he captured on the scene to news outlets. Among the videos was the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, a military veteran, by a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

Prosecutors said Mr. Sullivan intended to cause chaos on Jan. 6, urging people at the Capitol to “burn this [expletive] down!”

He carried a knife into the Capitol, according to video footage from inside.

New Arrest

The FBI, meanwhile, recently announced a new arrest in the investigation into Jan. 6.

Agents in Louisiana on April 25 arrested Matthew Matulich, who was charged with multiple counts, including theft of government property and knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted buildings or grounds without lawful authority.

Surveillance footage showed Mr. Matulich inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, according to court documents. The video showed Mr. Matulich grabbing a Kentucky flag and walking through the building with it.

Mr. Matulich was later among the individuals who entered the Senate gallery after senators were evacuated. He was inside the Capitol for about 90 minutes.

Mr. Matulich told his former employer that he wanted time off to travel to Washington in January 2021 but the employer told the FBI he or she was not able to grant the request. After Mr. Matulich missed work for three days, he was terminated on Jan. 8, 2021. The former employer helped identify Mr. Matulich from a surveillance video.

Mr. Matulich did not have a lawyer listed on the court docket.

As of April 6, nearly 1,400 people have been charged across the country over the breach, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

More than half have pleaded guilty to one or more charges. Another 156 have been found guilty at trial. Approximately 860 have been sentenced, including 520 who have been sentenced to time in prison.