On July 8, 2022, Richland Springs High School graduate Tyler Ethridge turned himself in and was arrested in Denver, Colorado for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Ethridge, 33, who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado,  faces a felony charge of civil disorder, as well as five misdemeanor charges. BrownwoodNews.com reached out to Ethridge about his role in the Capitol incident, and Ethridge provided the following responses via email:

Q: Why did you go to the capitol on January 6th?

A: My wife and I came to Colorado from Texas to spend time with friends and family. I was fasting with a ministry we partner with at that time. I was also going through ministry curriculum with an elder in the church just before a friend of mine invited me to go with him and his son to D.C. It was a last minute thing. I had no plans to go to D.C. on the 6th prior to that invitation. When my friend invited me I went to my wife to see what she thought. She was excited for me to go. So I went. No preconceived ideas. No plots to overthrow the government. Nothing. I just went to document what I saw and to protest a stolen election.

Q: What was your expectation for that day? What did you envision happening?

A: I didn’t have any expectations. I went to the Million MAGA March as well with no expectations. I just wanted to witness a critical moment in the history of our nation.
All I saw myself doing was documenting what I saw. I had no clue what would happen that day.

Q: Did anything that happened that day come as a surprise to you or did you expect things to go the way they did?

A: We left before Trumps speech was over. We were so far back that I couldn’t even hear what he was saying between the crowd. We left because we were bored. As we began walking towards the Capitol, I have on film an incident between a black man wearing all black and a bunch of Trump supporters arguing back and forth. In the background against the building were what looks like National Guardsmen. The police were immediately there to try and squash anything from happening.
It was after that moment I turned to my friend and his son and said, “something going to happen.” I felt it in my spirit. So I grabbed my friends son and took off towards the first barrier where a crowd was already there.
Did anything come as a surprise? Absolutely! When people started going over the barrier it was a mix between shock, excitement, and adrenaline.

Q: Do you have any regrets about that day or anything you would have done differently?

A: I did what I did. I don’t regret anything. People who weren’t there don’t understand the moment. They don’t understand the anger and frustration of the people. People want me to apologize for my actions. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. The adrenaline of the moment was other worldly. It felt similar to those feelings I would get before a state football game. Only 10x more intense due to the nature of the moment. I was a part of history that day. Whatever happens to me because of it will all be worth it in the end because I stood against an illegitimate government. And I did so without harming anyone.

Q: What do you feel was accomplished overall, and for you personally, that day?

A: I believe a lot was accomplished. Just look at the January 6th Committee. It’s a joke. Everyone knows it. That’s why nobody is watching it. The people who are believe Trump is a Russian agent. They are deceived by the media. They want to say we are deceived but that’s a lie. They are the ones living the Big Lie, not We The People. Americans are concerned about inflation, not January 6th. Many people are afraid to speak up against the government. I’m not. I have nothing to lose. I don’t have a ministry or a business to lose. My wife is a soldier. I told her before we even started dating that I might one day be thrown in jail for my faith and what I believe. Her and I are marked by destiny. No matter what the outcome is from this our marriage and destiny will remain in tact and prosperous. Nobody gets to decide my future but God. He probably didn’t condone my behavior that day but He’s still with me. He loves me and he loves all who will read this. What people think are your mistakes don’t define you. How you respond to your actions is what defines you. I’m responding in faith and patriotism. If I have to go to prison for protesting a corrupt government I’ll gladly do so with or without the support of the American people and the church.
I have support from my wife. That’s all I need at the end of the day.
And please don’t sympathize for her. She’s a warrior. A true Proverbs 31 woman. You can read her response in the Fox21 Colorado Springs article that came out.

Q: What else do you want people to know about that day?

A: The American people need to understand how all walks of life were there that day. It wasn’t just antifa or federal agents that might have caused the riot aspect of the January 6th. There were ordinary people like me there who are sick and tired of a corrupt government. We are tired of taxation without representation. We are tired of our tax dollars going to foreign nations while We The People struggle here at home. We are tired of special interest groups flooding dark finances into corrupt politicians. We reject the Great Reset and the New World Order. We want our country back. That’s why we took a risk voting for Trump. That risk was the best decision of my young life. We The People won the 2020 election. I don’t care how many spineless conservatives and Christian’s say otherwise. The 81+ million American’s who voted for him know we did.

The question I have for President Trump is if you really believed the election was stolen, why didn’t you sign the Insurrection Act?

A lot of haters on my social media page ask me if I feel betrayed by Trump and people affiliated with Christianity. I may have felt some of that in the beginning, but then I realized how most people lack courage in this hour. Most people have big mouths and small hearts.

That is a sign of the times. Mens hearts will fail them for fear of what is coming upon the earth.

We are in the last days. People need to give their life to Christ before it’s eternally too late. He loves everyone. God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for you as an individual. It matters not if you walked into the Capitol, committed adultery, or even murdered someone. Jesus died for you!

Hopefully you’ll post that. It’s my words, not yours. Be bold in this hour. Report the facts, not the narrative.

Lastly, I’m glad I represent myself pertaining to January 6th. I’m glad many have walked away from me. I’m glad I have no endorsements from Christianity.  I’m on a narrow path. I am a Black Robe Christian. I will always speak out against corruption in the church, the media, Hollywood, and in our government.

The America our founding fathers left us is worth fighting for. The Declaration of Independence is the foundation of our glorious Constitution. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty. I want equal representation in our society. When the wicked rule the people mourn, but if the righteous rule the people rejoice. It’s not a theocracy I want. It’s equal representation under the law. America has been blessed this long because we fear God and love freedom. May we never lose that identity.