Rapper who made album cover during Capitol riot sentenced to prison
Antionne Brodnax AKA Bugzie The Don pleaded guilty to four misdemeanour charges
Rapper Antionne Brodnax AKA Bugzie The Don, who posed for a photograph for his album cover at the Capitol riots, has been sentenced to five months in prison.
A federal judge sentenced him on Monday (December 19) for his role in taking part in the riots on January 6, 2021, where he entered the US Capitol building, as well as using a photograph of himself sitting on a SWAT vehicle as the front cover of his LP, ‘The Capital’, according to Rolling Stone.
On May 5 2021, he shared his album cover on Instagram, with the caption: “ON ALL PLATFORMS RN!!!!! #DONSTATUS”
In autumn 2021 Brodnax had previously pleaded not guilty to the four misdemeanour charges, which included entering a restricted building and illegally protesting in a capitol building, according to HiphopDX.
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The US Department of Justice argued for a tougher sentence than the five months that Brodnax ultimately got, because “[he] attempted to profit from the riot by releasing a rap album that used the attack on the Capitol as a theme”.
He was also on probation for a felony charge, but he got off on a lighter charge as part of his plea deal because prosecutors argued that he didn’t end up directly clashing with police and was “swept along with the group”.
Brodnax had previously claimed that he had stumbled across the capitol riot accidentally, and was in Washington DC shooting a music video, when he saw the commotion and decided to check out what was going on.
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He is one of nearly 1,000 people who have been charged for their involvement in the Capitol riots, which took place on January 6 earlier this year. Thousands of protestors descended upon the US Capitol building after a Donald Trump tweet alleged that he had lost the vote due to voter fraud, with some breaking past police and into the building.
Isaac Muk is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter
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