A Long Island DJ was sentenced to more than three years in prison for assaulting police officers other offenses he committed while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said.
The Department of Justice announced Thursday that Greg Rubenacker, of Farmingdale, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the Capitol Riot.
He pleaded guilty just two days after he was arrested on Feb. 9, 2021, to all 10 counts he was facing — despite previously telling the court "both of those are wrong" regarding the charges of violent entry and disorderly conduct, and telling NBC New York he was not involved in any violence at the Capitol.
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According to court documents, the 25-year-old Rubenacker was involved in a number of confrontations involving Capitol police officers inside the building, after he was able to enter through the Senate wing door just after 2 p.m. Rubenacker recorded a video of himself inside, stating "This is history! We took the Capitol."
He was also part of a crowd that yelled "where are they counting the votes" and eventually chased an officer who was attempting to secure the area, court documents state. He left the building less than 10 minutes after getting inside, though returned about 20 minutes later.
After he was able to re-enter the Capitol through the Rotunda door, Rubenacker appeared to smoke from a vape as well as a joint. He recorded another video, which he later posted on social media, captioned "Smoke out the Capitol, baby."
He then shows others sitting near him and smoking in the Rotunda. One of the other individuals then says “How many joints we have?” and can be seen counting the people around him smoking, including Rubenacker who is holding his weed up in the air.
As officers tried to remove him and other protesters from the Rotunda, Rubenacker joined others in resisting, and he swung a plastic bottle at an officer's head, court documents said. He also sprayed water from at Capitol police officers who were engaging with other rioters. Eventually, officers pepper-sprayed the crowd, including Rubenacker, who left the Capitol for good around 3:20 p.m.
According to federal documents, multiple tipsters provided Snapchat videos to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center (NOTC) following the Jan. 6 violent breach of the U.S. Capitol. On Jan. 11, according to the FBI documents, a witness submitted a recording of a Snapchat story that Rubenacker allegedly posted from his account. The witness stated that Rubenacker had sent multiple Snapchat videos to the witness from inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
Attorney information for Rubenacker was not made available.
