An aspiring rapper who posed on a U.S. Capitol Police SWAT truck on Jan. 6 – and used the image for his album cover – was sentenced to 5 months in prison.
Antionne DeShaun Brodnax, from Sandston, Va., is the only Black man among 400 people arrested for being in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Federal investigators asked the public to help them identify Trump supporters seen in photos and videos. Many family members, friends, and co-workers turned people in.
But Brodnax, who goes by the rap name Bugzie the Don, was easily identified from his album cover, titled The Capital. In the album’s first track, Brodnax responds to people claiming he was in the Capitol Building that day: “It wasn’t me.”
The album cover art shows him sitting on the hood of a SWAT Police truck while smoking a cigar.
Broadnax had a reason for being in the nation’s capital that day. He told investigators he was shooting a music video in Washington, D.C. when he happened upon the protests outside the Capitol Building.
He said he was not a Trump supporter nor did he take part in the protests. But federal investigators arrested him on March 11 — days after he released his album. He was charged with four federal counts, including unlawful entry and disorderly conduct.
“Brodnax followed the crowd to the United States Capitol Building and entered the building after United States Capitol Police moved the gates that blockaded the door,” according to the affidavit.
Brodnax said he entered the Capitol Building “peacefully” and spent about 40 minutes walking around taking “pictures and videos of the architecture,” according to court documents. He claimed he didn’t go into any offices or chambers – which are off limits to the public – and he denied stealing anything.
