Missouri man who carried loaded gun onto Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 gets probation

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a central Missouri man to five years’ probation for taking a loaded firearm onto the Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 riot.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton also fined Jerod Thomas Bargar $4,000 and ordered him to pay $2,000 restitution for damage to the Capitol, which the government says totaled more than $2.9 million.

Bargar, of Centralia, pleaded guilty in June to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, a felony.

The sentencing hearing took place in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The charge carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, three years’ supervised release, a $250,000 fine and restitution. The government had recommended six months’ incarceration, three years of supervised release and $2,000 restitution.

Bargar, 37, is the 20th Missouri resident to be sentenced in connection with the Capitol riot. Seven others have pleaded guilty and await sentencing, and the cases of nine additional Missouri defendants are pending.

Bargar was arrested in Osage Beach in August 2022. He originally faced four counts, including felony offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds or buildings.

The firearm was a 9mm semi-automatic pistol “held in a distinctive holster that displayed an image of the American flag and had the words ‘We The People’ written on it,” the charging documents said.

In a letter to the judge filed last week, Bargar said he had no intention of going to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, to cause harm to anyone or anything.

“I was simply there to exercise my First Amendment right,” he wrote. “I realize the severity of the situation that arose from my actions by stupidly not following the D.C. gun laws.”

He said he’d been a responsible gun owner and hunter since he was young and should have researched the gun laws before going to Washington.

“Now I realize the danger it presented that day,” he said. “I had never been in a crowd that large and riled up before…I am thankful the firearm fell into responsible hands even if this result is negative for me.”

Bargar said he was a father of four and “I am very remorseful that I am dragging my family through this.” He said he hoped the judge would have compassion.

“I am by no means a harmful or threat to the community or society,” he wrote. “I truly hope you can see past my events of that day and see that a human being made a very big mistake…”

According to the government’s sentencing memorandum filed last week, Bargar traveled from his home to Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, to attend former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. After the rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, it said, Bargar walked with the crowd to the Capitol and joined the hundreds of rioters gathered against the struggling police lines on the West Plaza.

There is no evidence that Bargar entered the Capitol or engaged in violence during the riot, the document said.

“However, at approximately 2:30 p.m., MPD Lieutenant (“Lt.”) J.B. spotted a FNH 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol, model FNX-9 on the ground of the West Plaza,” it said. “MPD later processed the firearm, noting that it was loaded, with 17 rounds in the magazine.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted a search to determine the firearm’s ownership based on its serial number, the document said. The gun wasn’t initially identified as Bargar’s, it said, but further investigation revealed that he was the true owner.

Bargar posted about his participation in the riot on social media during the day on Jan. 6, the government’s memorandum said.

“Specifically, Bargar posted on Facebook: ‘There’s patriots and traitors, where do you stand?’” it said. In another post, Bargar uploaded a picture of himself among a group of other rioters, captioned: “#FightForTrump #Parciallypeacefulprotect #partofhistory.”

The FBI interviewed Bargar on Jan. 18, 2021, the document said, and he admitted going to Washington to participate in a rally but downplayed his conduct. At the time of the interview, it said, the FBI had not yet traced the gun to Bargar, and he didn’t mention taking a firearm with him.

When the FBI interviewed him again on July 13, 2021, he said the gun was his.

“Bargar told agents he is always armed and wanted to be armed when he went into the ‘belly of the beast’ for his own ‘self-protection,’” the government’s filing said. “According to Bargar, he did not intend to use the firearm unless he had to defend himself.”

Bargar insisted he was not aware that possession of a gun in D.C. without a license was illegal, the document said. He told the agents he didn’t mention the gun during his first interview because he was not asked about it specifically and “figured it had likely been picked up by someone in the crowd since law enforcement officials had not contacted him about it.”

Though Bargar didn’t breach the Capitol, the document said, he carried a loaded firearm onto restricted grounds “during a full scale riot where police were being assaulted by all manner of weapons…Had MPD not recovered the gun, another rioter could have picked it off the ground and used it.”

To date, the government said, only one other Jan. 6 defendant has been sentenced for carrying a firearm into the Capitol’s restricted area. Guy Reffitt, of Texas, was sentenced in 2022 to more than seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty on five felony charges.

The government filed an additional document on Friday that displayed screenshots of text messages recovered from Bargar’s cellphone. The messages were exchanged on May 26, 2022, in regard to the Uvalde school shooting tragedy in Texas and the amount of time authorities waited before entering the school. Bargar texted, “That’s why I stay strapped everywhere I go, no matter if it’s ‘Allowed’ or not.”

That statement, the government said, “demonstrates a conscious disregard of gun laws, despite carrying and losing a loaded gun during a violent riot. His continued lack of appreciation of the law and safety of others supports the government’s request for a significant period of incarceration in this case.”

Bargar’s public defender responded on Sunday, saying the text message, which was sent more than a year after the Capitol riot and months before his arrest, “had nothing to do with January 6.”

“It does not reflect Mr. Bargar’s intent or mindset on January 6,” the response said. “Nor does it reflect anything about Mr. Bargar’s character…It was an off-the-cuff, inartful text that reflects the political discourse promoted by gun rights advocates.”

Bargar’s sentencing memorandum described him as an insurance representative who was born and raised in rural Missouri, “where it is common for residents to lawfully carry firearms on a daily basis.”

“The facts of this case are straightforward and uncontested: Mr. Bargar traveled to Washington, D.C., with a firearm that he lawfully carries in his home state,” the memorandum said. “Prior to traveling, he did not look into whether he is permitted to carry a firearm in the District of Columbia. While at the rally, while assisting another rallygoer, the firearm fell to the ground. He never intentionally took the firearm out or used it any way.”

Bargar did not post any “bellicose” messages about Jan. 6 before or after the event, his filing said, and wore street clothes to the rally.

“Bringing his firearm was a reckless and aberrant lack of judgment on Mr. Bargar’s part,” it said. “He knows he was wrong to disregard federal law and he has accepted responsibility by pleading guilty to a felony offense, which will strip him of his Second Amendment right to carry a firearm for self-defense.”

Included with Bargar’s sentencing documents were 22 letters of support from friends, family members, co-workers, a former coach and a church youth leader. They described him as an honest man, a respected member of the community and a kind and devoted father.

Alexandra Adkins, a former deputy sheriff in Audrain County, called Bargar “a good, faithful person who made a mistake.”

“In my time in law enforcement, I saw some terrible things done by terrible people — this is not one of those cases,” she wrote. “Jerod is a decent man who just needs a second chance to make things right, and I am asking that you give him that chance.”