John Earl Sullivan filmed the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Background photos from federal court documents; Inset mug shot from Tooele County Sheriff’s Department via screenshot from WUSA/YouTube)
A Utah man authorities said advocated for a violent government dismantling was sentenced to six years in federal prison after he stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, with a knife and a megaphone.
John Earl Sullivan, 29, was sentenced to 72 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced in a news release. He was convicted in November of charges of obstruction, trespassing with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, and unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon.
Court documents outline the case, highlighting Sullivan’s moments online leading up to Jan. 6 when he joined in the Capitol riots wearing a ballistic vest, gas mask, and bullhorn. Authorities said Sullivan, a self-described activist, had one objective — to cause chaos and disrupt the status quo.
“We will have live updates on the location for tonight’s purge,” Sullivan wrote in an Instagram post in the winter of 2020. “Spread the message. Let the electoral purge commence.” On Dec. 30, 2020, Sullivan wrote, “Definitely don’t surround his house …” with a photo of Sen. Mitch McConnell.
In a Tweet on Jan. 2, 2021, Sullivan wrote, “F— The System-Time To Burn It All Down,” with an accompanying still from a TikTok video of him burning an American flag.
At the Capitol that day, he said at one point through the bullhorn as he pushed through police barriers, “Get in that s— let’s go! Move, Move, Move! Storm that s—!”
At another point, he bragged as the mob approached the Capitol building, “There are so many people. Let’s go. This s— is ours! F— yeah,” “We accomplished this s—. We did this s— together. F— yeah!” “We are all a part of this f—— history,” and “Let’s burn this s— down.”
When he got to the Upper West Terrace, he triumphantly put his hand above his head, whooped and remarked, “awesome” and “savage,” after helping a rioter scale a wall, court documents said.
He got into the Capitol through a smashed window next to the broken Senate Wing Door at 2:15 p.m. and roamed around. At one point, he said to a fellow rioter, “We gotta get this s— burned,” “It’s our house m———–,” and “We are getting this s—.”
He bragged about being in a riot previously and pulled out a Smith & Wesson M&P knife with a 3.74 blade outside the chamber door of the House of Representatives that had been occupied by legislators, staff, and press, the document said.
“pull that m———– out this b—-,” he said, according to records.
When they didn’t get into the House floor, the crowd, including Sullivan, went to the Speaker’s Lobby, where the evacuation of the House floor had been underway. There, Sullivan told the mob he had a knife.
“Go, go. Let’s go. Get that s—!” he said as the crowd broke the glass windows of the Speaker’s Lobby. It was the location where rioter Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by Capitol police when she climbed through. Sullivan later told FBI agents he had been there at the time, and he had filmed the incident, court documents said.
Sullivan is the leader of an organization called Insurgence USA, through which he organizes protests, according to court documents. On July 13, 2020, he was charged with rioting and criminal mischief in Provo, Utah, stemming from a June 30, 2020, protest in which someone was shot and injured, court documents said.
In an interview with agents in Washington on Jan. 7, 2021, Sullivan said he was in Washington for former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally and that he went into the Capitol building wearing a ballistic vest and gas mask. He told agents he was an activist and journalist filming protests and riots, but he did not have press credentials and no connection to journalistic organizations, court documents said.
At trial, he said he shouted out during the filming of the riots to try to blend in, fearing for his life, CBS Washington, D.C., affiliate WUSA reported.
“Part of blending in is being a neutral observer,” Sullivan said, the outlet reported. “What is being a neutral observer but being one of them? It’s all with the intention to get my shot and keep myself safe.”
In closing arguments, his attorney said a person would have to be a “crazy person” to film himself during the rioting.
“If a person was going to commit multiple intentional felonies, would that person bring a camera and record everything they were doing for 50 consecutive minutes?” said the attorney Steven Kiersh, the news station reported.
Prosecutors argued that the acting as a journalist was a ploy, the network reported.
In a sentencing memo, family members wrote to the judge pleading to keep him out of the lockup. They said he was a good man who grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, never had a ticket to his name and didn’t have a mean bone in his body.
“This must be the 10th time I have written this letter to you to show John’s character is very good and that he would cause no trouble for you or anyone in the future,” his mother, Lisa Sullivan, wrote to Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee. “He is truly a good young man.”
She said her husband was in the military for 21 years, and both sides of the family have a long line of career service men and women.
“The children have respect of servicemen and women because of it,” she continued. “They have been the only ones, other than old veterans, seen removing their hats during the passing of a flag in the parade. People have mentioned it. That kind of respect. My son John, therefore, would never — and never did — disrespect the police that day or any other. He couldn’t. It’s not in his family DNA.”
“Please exercise mercy and take a chance on John today,” she added. “He would not let you down! It would mean everything to our family.”
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