‘I have so much shame’

College Student Who Pinched Sign During Capitol Riot Weeps as She Gets Prison Time

Gracyn Dawn Courtright was a senior at the University of Kentucky the day she stormed the Capitol.

A West Virginia college student who stormed the Capitol is about to get a one-month break—in prison. Gracyn Dawn Courtright, a senior at the University of Kentucky at the time of the riot, broke down in tears as she was sentenced to a month in prison on Friday. She pleaded guilty in August to a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building, with photos from the day capturing her proudly holding a “Members Only” sign as she marched through the building.

After the riot, Courtright bragged online about her newfound fame. “Infamy is just as good as fame. Either way I end up more known,” she wrote in one post. In an Instagram message, she joked, “idk what treason is.” But she broke down so severely in court on Friday that she had to be seen by a nurse, HuffPost reported. “I have so much shame from this,” she told the judge. “I will never be the same girl again, this has changed me completely.” She claimed she just “followed the crowd” on Jan. 6 and hadn’t even voted in the 2020 election. Instead, she claimed she just wanted to hear former President Donald Trump speak.