On Monday, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman sentenced Antionne DeShaun Brodnax, aka Bugzie the Don, to five months in prison and a year of supervised release, WUSA 9 reported. The decision was made in response to his guilty plea in October 2021 and after he denied a plea deal for a single count.
According to an affidavit, Brodnax was initially in D.C. to shoot a music video, but when he saw a huge crowd of Donald Trump supporters, he followed them into the Capitol building and took photos of the building.
After departing the scene, Brodnax was informed by his family that they witnessed him on a CNN broadcast. However, he told investigators that he did not enter the Capitol to engage in violence or to commit theft.
Prosecutors argued for a lengthier sentence due to Brodnax’s criminal history of prior felony convictions in Virginia and Maryland. These include manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of a firearm.
The Justice Department agreed with the prosecution and increased the rapper’s sentence, and weighed in on Brodnax’s act of deleting evidence from his phone after agreeing to send photographs and videos of the riot to the FBI.
Ultimately, Friedman not only expressed his concern over Brodnax’s criminal history, but he noted disciplinary issues while in custody, and his probationary status for another crime when he got caught up at the Capitol.
“He’s had a problem historically with following conditions imposed upon him,” Friedman said, per WUSA 9.
“It wasn’t me though,” Brodnax says on the recording, although court documents allege Brodnax admitted to entering the Capitol building.
At the request of his attorney, Brodnax declined comment. Brodnax’s attorney has now filed a motion to block a government warrant to search Bugzie the Don’s Twitter and Facebook accounts for additional photos of Brodnax inside the Capitol building, claiming it is a violation of his constitutional rights.
Nothing in court documents indicate Broadnax supported President Donald Trump or was at the Capitol to attempt to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote for President Joe Biden.
Brodnax is charged with four criminal counts including entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct and violent entry.
Brodnax’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a message from The Washington Post early Tuesday.
The rapper from Sandston, Va. — a town just outside Richmond — is among more than 400 people who face charges of joining a violent mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Federal investigators identified many defendants thanks to tips from family members, posts on social media and even boasts on dating profiles.
The rapper claimed he entered the building “peacefully” and spent about 40 minutes walking around taking “pictures and videos of the architecture,” according to court documents. He added that he didn’t go into any offices or chambers and denied stealing anything or partaking in violence.
Video footage showed him inside the National Statuary Hall asking a woman to take a picture of him sitting on the base of a statue of Norman Borlaug, an agronomist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.
Brodnax told investigators that while he was inside the Capitol, friends contacted him on social media alerting him that they saw him on a CNN broadcast. He left soon after, he said.
Days after the riot, federal investigators received tips that Brodnax had breached the Capitol, according to the affidavit, including a tweet from an account that posts images of people at the insurrection and crowdsources followers to identify them. The tweet included a screen recording of the Jan. 6 CNN live stream showing the rapper in the Capitol and identified him by his Twitter handle @bugziethedon.
Brodnax is also accused of taking a photo sitting on top of a US Capitol Police SWAT vehicle parked outside the Capitol. On social media, it appears to be very similar to a photo he used as the cover art for his new rap album titled “The Capital,” which was released about two months after the Capitol Breach. The first track of the album, titled “The Capitol Skit,” references people telling Brodnax he was seen on TV inside the Capitol building.
In an interview with investigators, Brodnax reportedly said he traveled to Washington, D.C., prior to January 6 to shoot a music video. The charging documents say Brodnax told investigators he “saw a rally of which many participants descended on the U.S. Capitol building” then followed the crowd to the Capitol “and entered the building after United States Capitol Police (USCP) moved the gates that blockaded the door.”
Once inside, prosecutors say Brodnax “walked around and took pictures and videos” at one point allegedly asking another rioter to take a photo of him sitting on a statue in Statuary Hall. While still inside, court documents say Broadnax started getting messages on social media that he was seen in footage broadcast by CNN.
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