A Barnhart man has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, court documents show.
Eric Glen Harrower pleaded guilty Nov. 16 to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. The hearing was held via video conference in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, according to court records.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 23. He faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison, a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years’ probation. He also must pay $500 restitution for the more than $2.9 million in damage to the Capitol, according to the plea agreement.
Harrower was charged in July with misdemeanor charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The three other charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea, according to court records.
According to the probable-cause affidavit, Harrower was at the Capitol with Joshua Dressel of Festus, who was charged last year with entering the Capitol in the early minutes of the breach and pleaded guilty in August 2022 to parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol building. Dressel was sentenced in March to 14 days in jail, a $500 fine and $500 restitution for damage to the Capitol.
Authorities became aware of Harrower during their investigation of Dressel, the report said.
“In reviewing footage of Dressel in the Capitol Building and Capitol Grounds, the FBI noticed that Dressel traveled throughout the day with a man with a long reddish-brown beard and maroon hoodie sweatshirt,” the affidavit said. “In Dressel’s Facebook messages, which were reviewed in connection with the investigation, the FBI learned that Dressel was with ‘Eric’ on January 6, 2021. Additional review of Dressel’s Facebook account showed he exchanged several messages with ‘Eric Harrower.’”
On May 12, 2021, the FBI found a Facebook account belonging to someone named Eric Harrower. The photos on the account matched the images of the man who was with Dressel at the Capitol, according to the affidavit.
In February 2022, Dressel’s attorney told the FBI that Harrower “wanted to make himself known” to the FBI. Harrower called the FBI on Feb. 9, 2022, and scheduled an interview. In the interview, Harrower said he and Dressel drove to the D.C. area on Jan. 5, 2021, to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally the next day, the affidavit said.
Harrower told the FBI that on Jan. 6, he and Dressel listened to some of former President Donald Trump’s speech and then walked toward the Capitol. Harrower said as they approached the Capitol, they could hear flashbangs and see what they thought was tear gas, according to the affidavit.
Harrower said when he and Dressel arrived at the Capitol, he saw a rioter smash the base of a flag stand into the stonework. Harrower said he went inside the building and spent time in a room with large columns and statues, where the crowd was becoming rowdy, the affidavit said.
As the two exited, they came across a rioter with a shield who was arguing with police. Harrower said after leaving the building, he and Dressel returned to their hotel, packed up and left the D.C. area late that afternoon or early that evening, according to the affidavit.
Harrower was shown four printed pictures of himself in the Capitol. He signed and dated the pictures acknowledging that the person in the pictures was in fact him, the report said.
The FBI agent who filed the affidavit wrote that surveillance video showed Harrower and Dressel using overturned bike racks as ladders to assist other rioters as they clambered up the banister to the northwest steps of the Capitol. “In doing so, they fueled the manpower of the mob, of which they were willing participants,” the agent wrote.
Harrower and Dressel could allegedly be seen in video going up the stairs to the West Plaza and to the Senate Wing doors. While there, and as the crowd finished chanting, “Fight for Trump,” Harrower and Dressel wrapped their arms around each other and patted their shoulders as if to congratulate themselves, the affidavit said.
Approximately 29 seconds later, the crowd in front of the Senate Wing doors began to repeatedly shout, “Let us in.” Harrower entered the Capitol and ended up in the Crypt area with rioters and police. During this time, Harrower witnessed a member of the mob throw a fire extinguisher at police officers,” according to the affidavit.
Surveillance video from inside the Capitol allegedly showed Harrower entering the building through the Senate Wing doors at about 2:14 p.m. and exiting through a broken window near those doors at about 2:36 p.m., the affidavit said.
Harrower remained on the Capitol grounds until about 4 p.m., according to the guilty plea.