FORGIVE ME, FATHER

Feds Come for Youth Pastor Who Was Fired After Bragging About Storming Capitol

“I’m probably going to lose my job as a pastor after this,” the accused rioter said in one video he filmed at the Capitol.

Tyler Ethridge, a Colorado youth pastor, was indicted Friday on felony and misdemeanor charges for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a release. He is being charged with six counts, including civil disorder, obstructing an official proceeding, disorderly conduct, and more. Investigators were first tipped off by someone who knew Ethridge from Bible College and saw his social media posts bragging about being “outside Nancy Pelosi’s office,” according to a statement of facts. “I’m probably going to lose my job as a pastor after this,” the accused rioter said in one video he filmed. Ethridge allegedly lied to investigators about taking down barricades, of which they said they later found video evidence. While outside the West Plaza, Ethridge was pepper-sprayed and shot with rubber bullets, but that didn’t stop him from climbing media scaffolding and going inside the Capitol building, prosecutors said. In the months following the riot, Ethridge continued to post on social media, in one post telling friends to not “be afraid of what they sentence you with. I’m not. I’m ready for whatever I’ll be charged with. America is still primed and ready.”