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Sharon man pleads guilty in Jan. 6 Capitol breach

A Sharon, Pa., man pleaded guilty to four charges connected to the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, which delayed Congress tallying the electoral vote in the 2020 presidential election.

Matthew Perna, 37, was convicted of a felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding as well as misdemeanor counts of unlawful entry into restricted buildings or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in the Capitol building.

His co-defendant, Stephen M. Ayres, 39, of Carolewood Circle NW, Champion, faces the same charges and is scheduled for a Jan. 27 pretrial hearing before Judge John D. Bates of the District of Columbia’s U.S. District Court.

Perna is scheduled to be sentenced March 3 by Bates. None of the charges deal with any acts of violence, court officials say.

Both men are free on bond.

The affidavit states that multiple tips showed Ayres and Perna were “of the many who had unlawfully entered the Capitol on that day, and … had posted a video talking about it on social media later that day.”

On Jan. 10, the FBI reviewed the almost eight-minute-long video that depicted three individuals, including Ayres and Perna, describing their experiences inside the Capitol. The same video was posted to YouTube on Jan. 7 by an account “Johnny Anonymous” and was labeled “It was all ANTIFA breaking into the Capitol 1-6-2021.”

Antifa as defined by Merriam-Webster is a person or group actively opposing fascism.

One man in the video — identified as Perna — stated it was being made “back at the hotel,” the affidavit states, where they were “safe,” but they had been “all at the Capitol building” and they wanted to “share what really happened today.”

Perna said he and Ayers “walked right into the Capitol building” after antifa “breached the door” so it was left open. Another man with the two also stated the police “escorted” them from one end of the building to the other, according to the video.

Perna was represented by local attorney J. Gerald Ingram, who did not respond to a voice message seeking comment.

Starting at $3.23/week.

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