Upper Darby man sentenced for role in Jan. 6 riots

Brian Healion of Upper Darby at the Capital in January 2021.

An Upper Darby man and self-described Proud Boy was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for his role in the attempted insurrection at the nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Brian Healion, 33, of the 400 block of Timberlake Road, was sentenced to 100 days in jail, 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 restitution by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the District of Columbia.

Healion had already pleaded guilty to a civil disorder charge on February 22.

He was charged in December 2021 with unlawful entry of restricted buildings and grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct in places of confinement. The other charges were dismissed under the plea.

Two Philadelphia men, Isaiah Giddings and Freedom Vy, were charged with identical charges in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

All three are identified in a complaint and affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Nicole Miller as members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group widely involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

According to court documents, Healion, a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Proud Boys, traveled to Washington to protest Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote in the 2020 presidential election. Healion was a member of the Ministry of Self Defense, a carefully selected subgroup within the Proud Boys created by former Proud Boys Chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio as a “national rally planning” section.

He met with about 100 other Proud Boys members at the Washington Monument on the morning of January 6 and followed Proud Boys leaders — including Philadelphia Proud Boys Chairman Zachary Rehl — on a march to the Capitol.

As the group marched past U.S. Capitol Police officers around 11:28 a.m., members of the group taunted them by shouting “treason” and warning officers, “Don’t make us go against you,” according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department.

Rehl was also arrested for his involvement and was later convicted of seditious conspiracy and related offenses. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in May 2023.

Investigators searched the contents of Rehl's phone and found a group message chain including Vy, Healion and Giddings, as well as a group message with all three defendants on the instant messaging service Telegram.

The messages appeared to coordinate travel to the Capitol on Jan. 5, and records from the Darcy Hotel in Washington indicate that Rehl checked in with three guests identified as Healion, Giddings and “Joseph Yeng,” a likely alias for Vy, the complaint says.

Prosecutors said in the statement that the group of Proud Boys, including Healion, continued to walk around the perimeter of the Capitol before arriving at Peace Circle, at the edge of the restricted area. Healion covered his face with a black gaiter.

Proud Boys leaders led the crowd in chants and rushed toward the police line, trampling on bike rack barriers as they passed, the statement said. Once on Capitol grounds, Healion helped others cross the police line and helped remove a bike rack barrier when he snatched it from a Metropolitan Police Department officer.

Healion then followed other Proud Boys to the upper west terrace of the building and eventually into the building around 2:53 p.m. through the Senate wing door.

The affidavit included numerous photographs of the defendants inside and just outside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack.

One image allegedly showed Rehl and the three defendants on the Upper West Terrace, another is of the west side of the building near the Senate, and a third image showed the four men inside the office of Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, which Healion texted to Rehl, according to the complaint.

After spending about 20 minutes inside the building, Healion and other Proud Boys members exited through a broken window, prosecutors said.

In almost all of the photos in the complaint, the defendants are seen holding up the OK symbol, a circle formed with the index finger and thumb touching, with the other three fingers extended.

Others from Delaware County include Richard Michetti, 29, of Ridley Park, who was sentenced to nine months in federal prison in September 2022 after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting obstructing an official proceeding; and Robert Sanford Jr., 58, who was sentenced to more than four years in prison in April 2023 for throwing a fire extinguisher that struck two police officers in the head.

In the 41 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,450 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states with crimes related to the U.S. Capitol breach, including more than 500 people charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement, a felony, the Justice Department said.

The case is still ongoing.

Anyone with information can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.