Pardoned Jan. 6 defendant sentenced for assault, filming himself touching woman on Silver Line train
Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter sentenced for DC Metro assault
A pardoned Jan. 6 rioter will serve 52 more days in jail for touching a woman's hair on a Metro train without her permission, filming it, posting it on social media and bragging about it.
WASHINGTON - A pardoned Jan. 6 defendant was sentenced Thursday after being found guilty of assault in a case involving a woman on a Metrorail train.
Bryan Betancur was convicted after a day‑long trial in D.C. Superior Court, where Judge Anthony Epstein ruled prosecutors had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Betancur assaulted the woman, identified in court documents as GC.
On Thursday, Betancur was sentenced to 180 days in prison, with credit for time served.
The backstory:
Betancur was charged with assault after filming himself touching GC’s hair without her knowledge while riding the Red Line in February.
She testified the encounter left her feeling unsettled in public, saying it made her feel "more paranoid and more exposed."
RELATED: Pardoned Jan. 6 defendant found guilty of assault for touching woman's hair
Betancur, who appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit, showed little reaction as the verdict was read. He has been in custody since April 8.
GC told the judge she did not realize what happened until the video Betancur posted on Feb. 28 went viral and colleagues saw it on X.
Investigators from Metro Transit Police and the FBI used metadata from Twitter to confirm Betancur was the person in the video, even though his face was not visible. They also addressed whether touching someone’s hair can constitute assault when the victim is unaware, a point the judge ultimately recognized.
Prosecutors say they plan to seek more than the roughly 125 days Betancur has already served. He faces a maximum of 180 days in jail and is also facing separate stalking charges.
The Source: Information in this article comes from D.C. Courts and FOX 5 reporting.