Man Who Posed With Beer Can in Hand During Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Pleads Guilty to Picketing

A Texas man pleaded guilty last week to a picketing charge after he was photographed in the Capitol building during the January 6, 2021 riot with a beer in his hand, and posted the photo and other videos to Facebook.

Thomas Paul Conover, 53, faces a punishment of up to six months in jail along with up to $5,000 in fines and the $500 in restitution for damages to the Capitol he agreed to pay in his plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

In the charges, the Federal Bureau of Investigation alleged Conover took photos or videos with a can of Coors Light in hand while trespassing inside the Capitol and posted them along with other updates about his activities during the riot to his Facebook page.

"I don't always storm the Capitol of the United States of America, but when I do, I prefer Coors Light," Conover allegedly said in one of the videos posted online.

Conover joins the list of over 700 individuals who have been charged for their participation in the riot at the Capitol, and the over 170 who have pleaded guilty.

Last week, a North Carolina woman was sentenced to three months in prison after she pleaded guilty to several charges for entering the Capitol with her husband and their 14-year-old son.

The couple brought their son into the building with them even after they watched tear gas used to defend the building, a decision the judge called "a complete lack of judgment on your part."

Meanwhile, the House committee investigating the January 6 riot has conducted hundreds of interviews with people who participated in or were involved with the planning of the events that led up to and include the storming of the capitol.

In recent weeks the first two Congress members to be subpoenaed by the committee, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, refused to cooperate with interviews.

The committee is said to be planning public hearings for some time this year to release their findings.

Conover, of Keller, Texas, entered his plea in a Friday video conference with a Washington, D.C.

The plea agreement document specified about $1.5 million in damage to the Capitol resulted from the riot.

A judge must still adopt the agreement. Conover remained free on his own recognizance pending an April 8 sentencing hearing. If the Keller man cooperates with other prosecutions, prosecutors will seek dismissal of his indictment's three other disorderly conduct and trespassing counts.

Tipsters also identified Conover on Capitol security video of the mob that stormed the building, the complaint stated.