‘I’m proud of it’: Woman who ‘f—ing stormed’ the Capitol on Jan. 6 is going to prison

A Florida woman who was inside the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots and later boasted to a relative that she “f—— stormed the capital” and was “proud of it” is going to prison.

Anna Lichnowski, 37, was sentenced to 45 days in jail, three years probation, $5,000 in fines, and 200 hours of community service. She was found guilty in July of trespassing, disorderly conduct and picketing in the Capitol building after a three-day bench trial by U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton, a George W. Bush appointee.

The day after she was sentenced, Lichnowski posted her punishment on X for misdemeanors that “I did not commit.” At the bottom of the post, she added, “Silver lining: Won free Caps tickets,” with a selfie in her hockey jersey.

She was among the crowd attending Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. After the rally, she went to the Capitol, up a staircase to the Upper Terrace and into the building through the Senate Wing doors just before 3 p.m., court documents said. Inside, she took a selfie and went with the crowd to the Crypt. In the Crypt, she sat in front of the New Jersey statue before an officer asked her to move, and she ultimately exited the building around 3:30 p.m.

She was arrested in July 2023 after FBI agents received tips that she had posted pictures on Facebook of herself inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6. One tipster showed authorities a screengrab of a message she sent to a relative, reading: “And yes. I was with the group that f—ing stormed the capital. And I’m proud of it.”

A detective with the Brick Township Police Department who grew up with Lichnowski in the New Jersey city identified her to FBI agents after looking at an image from Capitol surveillance footage.

In their sentencing memo arguing for 12 months of incarceration, one year of supervised release, and $500 in restitution, prosecutors said she unlawfully entered the Senate Wing Doors despite a blaring alarm, broken windows and police officers in riot gear. They said she was a participant in the disruptive mob inside the Senate Wing Doors and Crypt and chanted “Traitor” and “It’s Our House.” She remained inside the building, sitting on a portable chair, making herself at home in the Crypt, and ignored an officer who ordered her to leave, prosecutors said.

They said she was “not truthful” and “sought to deceive the Court” while testifying and lacked remorse.

In her sentencing memo arguing for probation, Lichnowski’s defense attorney Terrell N. Roberts, III said that family, friends and acquaintances attested to her strength of character. Roberts talked about her background, the death of her mother when she was 18, her struggles with substance abuse, two near-fatal overdoses and her path to sobriety.

The attorney cited a recent CNN story in which Lichnowski was interviewed about helping the local business community impacted by the Florida hurricanes.

Roberts wrote that she went to Washington to be with like-minded people on Jan. 6 “to protest the stolen election” and “to observe what [she] thought was the constitutional process of our 12th Amendment.”

“Ms. Lichnowski has clearly accepted responsibility and shown remorse to those closest to her,” Roberts wrote. “She should not be penalized for failing to make an obsequious show of submission to the Federal Government.”

Like a growing number of other Jan. 6 defendants, she unsuccessfully sought a delay in her case until after Donald Trump, who vowed to pardon many of the rioters, is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

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