David Brian Howard (circled in yellow) appears outside near the Upper West Terrace of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Inset: David Brian Howard recording video outside of the Capitol on Jan. 6 (Department of Justice).
A Texas father of two who breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after attending then-President Donald Trump‘s “Stop the Steal” rally wants a federal judge to sentence him to probation only — or “perhaps” just a fine or community service — after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, arguing that he was “misguided” by Fox News and “bought the lies sold to him and millions of others for many years and especially in the wake of the 2020 election.”
David Brian Howard, 47, was arrested in January. In April, he pleaded guilty to two class B misdemeanor counts including disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building or grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
In a letter of apology to the court, Howard said he had “deep regret and remorse” for his actions.
“I was misled and believed I was witnessing a historical event based on the guidance of the former president. I did knowingly enter the Capitol, but I am deeply regretful for that decision. I did not gain anything by entering the building, nor did I further any knowledge. I remained peaceful and to myself,” Howard wrote.
According to his arrest warrant, Howard originally faced four charges. In addition to the two misdemeanor counts, he was charged with felony knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and felony disorderly conduct. Those charges were dropped as a result of his plea agreement.
In a sentencing memorandum reviewed by Law&Crime, Howard’s attorney said in hindsight Howard was “horrified” by the “ongoing misinformation, influence and affect” that Fox News and other “ring wing media accounts and cable news or right wing media” had on him, someone who “is/was simply a small-town man.”
Prosecutors seek a sentence of 21 days imprisonment, a year of probation and a fine of $500 to be imposed.
Howard’s attorney, Nabeel Kibria, wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Howard was convinced his vote for Trump in 2020 had been stolen.
“Mr. Howard had no intention, ever, of engaging in the actions which led to his arrest. He came to Washington, D.C., from Dallas (via Miami) on January 6th alone because he was led to believe — from his local media and large swaths of the community around him at home — that his vote for Mr. Trump in 2020 had been stolen; that the election had been stolen; that his country and this democracy was being stolen by an illegitimate President,” Kibria wrote in the sentencing memo reviewed by Law&Crime.
On Jan. 6, Howard attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse, recorded video there, and then proceeded to walk to the Capitol. Trump’s speech ended close to 1 p.m. and by 2:30 p.m., Howard was on the restricted grounds of the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace. According to his statement of offense, open source video confirmed that around the time he arrived there, tear gas was deployed to keep rioters away from an entry point at the Senate Wing Doors.
Within 20 minutes, closed circuit surveillance footage showed Howard going through “smashed” doors as an alarm was sounding, the statement of offense notes. He kept taking pictures and recording video and “at one point approached a line of U.S. Capitol Police officers in riot gear guarding the north end of the corridor before turning around.”
He left. But only briefly.
Howard insisted he was not in Washington, D.C., to engage in “insidious” or “violent” activity, just, as his lawyer wrote, to witness a “presentation of the evidence that President Trump promised would be on display and to take part in what he thought would be, peaceful protest and rally at Ellipse.”
Kibria said it was only after “the mob had been charged and activated by extremely powerful and prominent individuals, including the former President, did Mr. Howard find himself headed towards and onto the Capitol grounds.”
He had a “sense of duty” that day and wanted to record events that he knew would have “greater ramifications in society and in history.”
Though he went through smashed doors, Kibria said Howard entered the Capitol the way he did because there were “no impediments,” he wrote.
Once he left the Capitol, Kibria said the Texas man felt “shocked and embarrassed at the behavior he had just witnessed. That included seeing police deploy tear gas as rioters were being both violent and destructive.
Writing that Howard still “struggles” with the fact that he was “foolish enough to believe the lies and misinformation that brought him to DC on Jan. 6 and consequently led him to the Capitol,” his attorney said Howard isn’t “alone” among the many who feel they have “fallen prey to and victim to” these same lies.
“Lies and misinformation have been used throughout history by many prominent and powerful individuals to manipulate others to achieve certain goals. In the United States, it seems that a new era with these tactics at its core, took flight in 2016, with really no end in sight and a second wave seemingly on the horizon,” Kibria wrote.
Prosecutors say Howard entered the Capitol, left, and then reentered it within minutes, using the Senate Wing Doors entry point. Records show police in riot gear were guarding one end of a corridor where he had reentered, so Howard took an opposite route and walked further inside toward the Capitol’s Crypt, according to prosecutors.
He wandered around, took photos, “approached several officers,” his statement of offense notes, and then he turned around and left the Crypt before getting to the Senate Wing Doors again and “briefly lowering his mask to talk to another rioter while an alarm can be heard sounding.”
He was in and out of the Capitol within “approximately ten minutes.”
On Jan. 7, he left Washington, D.C.
Howard will be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, on Aug. 2.
He has asked to be sentenced to a term of probation and according to a sentencing memorandum filed by his attorney, two probation officers recommended the same. One probation officer, his lawyer wrote, “suggested that perhaps even a sentence of only fines and community service may be appropriate.”
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