A man from Santa Clara, California faced sentencing on Wednesday for his role in the January 6th Capitol breach, marking another chapter in the legal fallout from the 2021 incident that shook the nation. Patrick Allen Bournes, 60, was handed down a sentence that will see him behind bars for four months, followed by a two-year supervised release that includes home detention. Also, Bournes is required to pay $2,000 in restitution. This sentence comes after Bournes pled guilty to a felony charge of civil disorder on February 9, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia.

Details from court documents reveal that Bournes was an active participant in the clashes with law enforcement at the Capitol. The intensity of the moment was captured as police and protesters, including Bournes, violently clashed in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel—a focal point for the violence on that day. Notably, Bournes entered the Tunnel around 3:03 p.m. only to forcefully make his way toward the front lines of the conflict, where he was witnessed helping to displace a police shield into the aggressive crowd and, even as others retreated, chose instead to continually press against police defenses, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia.

Bourn's confrontation with the authorities did not end with physical actions. Documented evidence presented during the proceedings recounted him shouting “TRAITORS!” repeatedly at officers. He stood with the mobs who used stolen shields to push against police lines—a tactic that symbolized the concerted effort made by rioters to breach the Capitol defenses that day. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, following these volatile actions, Bournes exited the Tunnel at approximately 3:11 p.m. After the incident, he was arrested by the FBI on January 29, 2023, in San Jose, California.

The prosecution of the case was a joint endeavor by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section. Supporting the proceedings, the FBI's San Francisco and Washington Field Offices, along with U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department, played critical roles in the investigation that led to Bournes's sentencing.