Jim Sinclair, a 38-year-old home restoration contractor from Bensalem, traveled to Washington to support President Donald Trump and, perhaps, help foment a revolution.
“Freedom!!!!!!!” Sinclair posted on Facebook on Wednesday (photo of Mel Gibson from Braveheart included) after the mob had breached the Capitol building. “It’s 1776, the American people have ears and eyes. We will not accept this fraudulent election.”
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Sinclair, who last month wrote that it was time to spill the “blood of tyrants,” ultimately failed to overthrow the republic. But he did drink two cranberry vodkas and get arrested after the riot for violating curfew and carrying a set of illegal brass knuckles, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Court records noted that he “became emotional” after he was approached by officers.
Freedom!!!!!!! Its 1776, the American people have have ears and eyes. We will not accept this fraudulent election.
In Pennsylvania there are 200k more votes than Registered voters. Why is that!?
Sinclair was among the more than 50 people arrested by Capitol Police or D.C. authorities in Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol by pro-Trump supporters egged on by the president’s rhetoric. Thirteen of them hailed from Pennsylvania and one from South Jersey. Most, like Sinclair, were cited with violating the 6 p.m. curfew imposed by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Some, like Leonard Guthrie, 48, of Cape May, N.J., were arrested for illegally entering the Capitol grounds.
Capitol Police say Guthrie was arrested for unlawful entry, although details of his alleged offense weren’t released Thursday. A man who came to the doorway of his home in a mostly rural section of Lower Township waved a reporter off and said, “Please get off my property.” A heavily damaged car was parked in the driveway.
Police with guns drawn watch as rioters try to break into the House Chamber.Read moreJ. Scott Applewhite / AP
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., comforts Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., while taking cover as rioters disrupt the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote.Read moreAP
A rioter is seen hanging from the balcony in the Senate Chamber.Read moreWin McNamee / MCT
People shelter in the House gallery as rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol.Read moreAndrew Harnik / AP
People shelter in the House gallery as rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol.Read moreAndrew Harnik / AP
Rioters enter the Senate Chamber.Read moreWin McNamee / MCT
A rioter supporting U.S. President Donald Trump sits inside the office of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi inside the U.S. Capitol.Read moreSaul Loeb/AFP / MCT
U.S. Capitol Police hold rioters at gun-point near the House Chamber inside the U.S. Capitol.Read moreAndrew Harnik / AP
Riot police clear the hallway inside the Capitol.Read moreKent Nishimura / MCT
Rioters enter the U.S. Capitol Building.Read moreWin McNamee / MCT
Rioters gesture to U.S. Capitol Police in the hallway outside of the Senate chamber at the Capitol.Read moreManuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Rioters interact with Capitol Police inside the U.S. Capitol Building.Read moreWin McNamee / MCT
Rioters enter the U.S. Capitol Building.Read moreWin McNamee / MCT
A mob supporting U.S. President Donald Trump breaks into the U.S. Capitol.Read moreWin McNamee / MCT
U.S. Capitol Police try to hold back a mob outside the east doors to the House side of the U.S. Capitol.Read moreAndrew Harnik / AP
Protesters gather outside the U.S. Capitol.Read moreAndrew Harnik / AP
A mob of Trump supporters climbs scaffolding and takes to the steps of the U.S. Capitol building.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
Rioters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington.Read moreJulio Cortez / AP
A protester is shown injured during a confrontation with police during a rally Wednesday.Read moreJulio Cortez / AP
A mob gathers on the second day of pro-Trump events fueled by President Donald Trump's continued claims of election fraud in an to overturn the results before Congress finalizes them in a joint session of the 117th Congress.Read moreKent Nishimura / MCT
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier to storm the Capitol in Washington.Read moreJulio Cortez / AP
Rioters supporting Trump try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington.Read moreJulio Cortez / AP
Police keep a watch on rioters who were attempting to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington.Read moreJulio Cortez / AP
Protesters gather on the second day of pro-Trump events fueled by President Donald Trump's continued claims of election fraud in an attempt to overturn the results before Congress finalizes them in a joint session of the 117th Congress.Read moreKent Nishimura / MCT
Protesters gather on the second day of pro-Trump events fueled by President Donald Trump's continued claims of election fraud in an attempt to overturn the results before Congress finalizes them in a joint session.Read moreKent Nishimura / MCT
President Donald Trump gestures while speaking to the crowd during a “Save America” rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
Trump supporters in Washington D.C. as the House and Senate prepared to convene a joint session to count the electoral votes cast in November's election.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
Trump Supporters walk on G Street near 15th Street in Washington D.C. as the House and Senate prepared to convene a joint session to count the electoral votes cast in November's election Wednesday.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
Rioters break TV equipment outside the the U.S. Capitol.Read moreJose Luis Magana / AP
In a phone interview, Guthrie’s father, Leonard Guthrie Sr., said his son was the chaplain of a group of churchgoing patriots who met in D.C. “to support President Trump and the whole movement,” and never entered the Capitol building. He said his son was behind the Capitol in a crowd and got pushed “into the line where he wasn’t supposed to cross.”
He said his son had no intention of being caught up in an insurrection.
”No, no, no,” said Guthrie Sr., a taxidermist. “My son is not like that. No way he would storm the Capitol. It didn’t happen that way. He’s not that kind of guy. He’s praying to the Lord. He went down there not for the reason he’s charged but for his belief in God and country.”
Terry Brown, a retired code enforcement officer and Trump supporter from Lebanon County, was one of the few charged with illegally entering the Capitol building.
“I came to the conclusion that we needed to be heard, and nobody was listening,” he said. “So if this is what it took … to make the people stand up and listen, then to me it was worth it.”
Brown faces unlawful entry charges punishable by a sentence of up to six months and a fine of $1,000 if convicted.
Phone numbers for Sinclair were not working Thursday. But his Facebook page — a unique blend of conspiracy theories, revolutionary bravado, and a deep appreciation for the singer Meat Loaf — reflect the more extreme political views that have become commonplace among Trump supporters, stoked by the president’s lies about the 2020 election.
On Wednesday, Sinclair wrote on Facebook: “In Pennsylvania there are 200k more votes than Registered voters. Why is that!?”
That is a variant of a false statement Trump repeated most recently at Wednesday’s rally, based on a flawed analysis by Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania. It relied on incomplete data.
Staff writer Jonathan Lai contributed to this article.
I'm a reporter on The Inquirer's Investigations team, focusing on government accountability, corruption, and bizarre stories that don't fit neatly into a company bio such as this.
I'm a feature writer based at the Jersey Shore but roaming to Philly, covering Atlantic City, beach culture, power grabs, arts, and maybe never again, Miss America. I also write the Down the Shore newsletter.
