Capitol rioter attempts to downplay her actions after giving apology in court

The first individual sentenced in connection with the Capitol insurrection attempted to downplay the deadly event just days after sharing an apology before a federal judge.

Anna Morgan-Lloyd, who pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor trespassing charge for illegally entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, appeared on Fox News for an interview where she offered her real opinion on the U.S. Capitol riots and those who participated. Although multiple people died as a result of the insurrection, Morgan-Lloyd claimed most rioters were "polite as they attacked the Capitol."

"Where I was at, we seen nobody damage anything and people were actually very polite," she said. "If anybody bumped into anybody it was, 'Excuse me,' and people were very polite and nobody was breaking anything."

"It was calm enough that people were actually walking out of the Capitol building that worked there, walked right past us and they had no fear on their face at all."

Morgan-Lloyd's controversial remarks came close to one week after she wrote a statement of apology to a federal judge. In her letter to Judge Royce Lambert, Morgan-Lloyd apologized for her actions and condemned rioters as she attempted to distance herself from the situation. She claimed she "felt ashamed that something meant to show support for the President had turned violent." She wrote that she was sorry, adding: "It was never my intent to help empower people to act violently."

At the time, she received a $500.00 fine for her participation that day. But now, she is singing a different tune. During the interview, she went on to recall what she witnessed that day upon walking into the federal building.

"We followed a 74-year-old woman in to get her out. She didn't fight anybody to get in," she said in her Fox interview. "We seen police officers standing in that back hallway. They were standing and they were relaxed. They didn't tell anybody to leave. They were talking and chatting with people."

Despite Morgan-Lloyd's claims, the judge argued otherwise. "This wasn't a peaceful demonstration. ... It wasn't an accident that it turned violent," the judge said.