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Somerville yoga instructor sentenced to a year in prison for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6
Prosecutors said previously that 30-year-old Noah Bacon helped other rioters enter and go deeper into the Capitol building.
A judge has sentenced a Somerville man to a year in prison for storming the Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
In March, a federal jury found 30-year-old Noah Bacon guilty of disorderly and disruptive conduct, among other charges, in connection with the riot.
Prosecutors presented evidence during the trial that Bacon entered the Capitol around 2:15 p.m. that day and stayed for about 50 minutes, the U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. said in a press release.
During that time, prosecutors said, Bacon helped other rioters enter and go further into the building, even as he watched Capitol police try to secure these areas. At one point, he also put a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag over a security camera, the release said.
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Police arrested Bacon in Somerville in June 2021. Before his arrest, he taught yoga at the Cambridge Council on Aging, The Boston Globe reported.
A jury unanimously found Bacon guilty of obstruction of an official proceeding; entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building; entering and remaining in a congressional gallery; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
The sentencing
Though Bacon was facing up to 23 years in prison, last week, a federal judge sentenced him to a year in prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution. Prosecutors recommended Bacon serve three years in prison, the Globe reported.
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Prosecutors argued for the sentence based on “the gravity of Bacon’s conduct, his lack of remorse, and his patently false testimony at trial,” the newspaper wrote. Bacon reportedly testified that a flash-bang went off before he entered the Capitol, causing him to not be fully conscious of his subsequent actions.
At the sentencing, prosecutors said Bacon’s testimony was “not only not credible, but it was also demonstrably false in many respects,” the Globe reported. They said he “offered absurd explanations and denials” to undercut his culpability for his crimes.
In a statement to the court, Bacon said he was at the Capitol to hear more speeches and pushed forward to get a better view, the newspaper wrote.
“Everything changed in the chaos, and I stopped thinking,” the statement reportedly said. “When I found myself at the top of the Capitol steps I saw people fighting far to my right and an open door far to my left. Without even meaning to, I ran towards the open door. I don’t know what motivated me to go through that door, but I did.”
In a letter to the sentencing judge asking for leniency, Bacon admitted that his actions were wrong and said he regretted them, the Globe reported.
Who is Noah Bacon?
Noah Bacon is the son of Rev. Robert Bacon, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Lynnfield, the Globe reported. Noah’s parents told the court he used to be a liberal, but became taken with former President Donald Trump during the COVID-19 lockdown while he lived by himself and smoked a lot of cannabis.
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“The Trump thing is a complete mystery to [my wife and I]. I cannot think of two people who are more polar opposites of one another than Noah Bacon and Donald Trump,” Robert Bacon reportedly wrote in a letter to the sentencing judge.
Noah Bacon was set free on personal recognizance bail after his arrest, the Globe reported. It is unclear when he’ll begin serving his prison sentence.
Since the storming of the Capitol, over 1,000 people have been charged for their role in the riot, the release said. The FBI is still investigating the riot. Anyone with tips is asked to contact the FBI at 800-225-5324 or via tips.fbi.gov.
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