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Former Marine who said 'we're going to take' the Capitol on Jan. 6 sentenced

Boyd Camper pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the U.S. Capitol.

A former Marine from Montana who told a reporter that rioters were "going to take" the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 60 days in jail Friday after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Boyd Camper, who had initially been charged with four misdemeanors, pleaded guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol, according to U.S. District court records in Washington D.C.

Boyd Camper
In an interview that aired on CBS News, Boyd Camper acknowledged that he was inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, stating “I was on the front line."CBS News via FBI

Camper also agreed to pay $500 toward the $1.5 million in U.S. Capitol repair costs, a sentencing memo shows.

According to the memo, Camper traveled to Washington D.C. with his 10-year-old son to attend then-President Donald Trump's speech on the mall. After finding the speech "wanting," the memo says, he joined a group heading to the U.S. Capitol and left his son with a friend before breaching the building.

Surveillance cameras captured Camper carrying a Go-Pro camera through the building. After Camper was arrested on March 12 — and investigators asked for the camera he'd recorded with — he refused to hand it over, saying it would implicate him, according to a court filing.

Boyd Allen Camper, circled in red, walks through the Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 6, 2021, holding what appears to be a camera on a pole.
Boyd Allen Camper, circled in red, walks through the Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 6, 2021, holding what appears to be a camera on a pole.Capitol Police

Camper later said to a federal agent that he buried the camera.

After leaving the Capitol, Camper told a CBS reporter that he'd been on the "front line" of those pushing past the barricades and police officers, according to federal court documents.

"We’re going to take" this place, he added, according to the documents. "If you haven’t heard it’s called the insurrection act and we the people are ready."

In the sentencing memo, Camper's lawyer said the statement didn't "necessarily reflect his thoughts" because it was made in an "excited state."

In a statement included in the memo, Camper apologized for his "contribution to the chaos" and said he had no intention of hurting anyone.

"I got caught up in the synergy and moment of the crowd and made a bad decision to enter," he said. "My conduct was not violent, did not damage anything, I respected our police officers."

Also sentenced Friday was Bradley Rukstales, the former CEO of Chicago-area tech firm who was arrested after he confronted police officers inside the U.S. Capitol. The firm, Cogensia, fired him two days later.

More than 650 people have been charged in the Jan. 6 riot. Roughly 120 have plead guilty, mostly to misdemeanor crimes.