What did aspiring Proud Boy Joshua Pruitt do? Capitol rioter who encountered Senator Chuck Schumer sentenced to 55 months in prison

A Maryland resident, Joshua Pruitt, was sentenced on Monday to 55 months in prison for breaching the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The 40-year-old accused entered the building with a group of Proud Boys.

Reportedly, Pruitt was in the process of joining Proud Boys, an extremist organization at the time, and was attending a rally with the members. He is a former bartender employed in Washington, D.C., and a personal trainer.

Proud Boys is infamous for being a far-right, neo-fascist organization with only male members. The group is involved in political violence across the country. They have also been designated as a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand.

According to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, Pruitt has been sentenced to four years and seven months in jail and three years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution, the Justice Department stated in an official release.

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Joshua Pruitt's encounter with Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer

At around 2.10 pm on January 6, 2021, Joshua Pruitt illegally entered the restricted grounds of the Northwest Lawn. He then went up the stairs to the Upper West Terrace. He then used a piece of fencing as a makeshift ladder to climb onto the stairs, a press release by the Justice Department stated on Monday.

Just minutes later, at approximately 2.14 pm, Pruitt leaped over a railing before entering the Capitol through the Senate Wing Door. At one point, he continued in the direction of the Senate subway. Right then, Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer was being evacuated by his security detail.

However, when security saw Joshua Pruitt approaching them, they changed course. In a statement to the court, assistant U.S. Attorney Alexis Loeb wrote:

"One look at Pruitt, and the leader of Senator Schumer's security detail immediately saw the threat and hustled the 70-year-old senator down a hallway, having to change their evacuation route on a dime."

Speaking to the FBI, security called their brief encounter with Joshua Pruitt a "harrowing, unforgettable moment." According to them, Pruitt was a few seconds away from catching up to Schumer.

Referring to the moment, Loeb further wrote:

"At the end of the ramp, officers closed and locked the doors. The security detail and (Schumer) pursued a secondary evacuation route. Once the doors were being closed, Pruitt turned around and retraced his steps."

According to prosecutors, Pruitt and other members of Proud Boys communicated in code to discuss breaching the Capitol building, civil war, and run-ins with cops. Prosecutors further accused Pruitt of plotting to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote on January 6.

Months later, in June, Joshua Pruitt pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction in an official proceeding. Another report stated that Joshua Pruitt was on probation and wearing an ankle monitor on the day of the riot.

He was first arrested on the day of the riot for violating a curfew imposed by the D.C. mayor.

Meanwhile, his defense attorney Robert Jenkins Jr. argued that there was no "direct evidence" of Joshua Pruitt scheming with Proud Boys to attack the Capitol, thereby letting Pruitt escape a conspiracy charge.

Since the riot incident, over 860 people have been arrested across 50 states, including over 260 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation into the matter remains ongoing.