Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter dodges jail yet again after allegedly using gun to threaten churchgoer holding bible and 'putting his kid' in car

Inset: Ryan Nichols (Harrison County Sheriff's Office). Background: Ryan Nichols astatine the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot (United States House Select Committee).

A Jan. 6 rioter from Texas who was charged with threatening a churchgoer with a gun aft being pardoned by President Donald Trump is dodging jailhouse clip yet again aft accepting a plea woody successful a abstracted case.

Ryan Nichols, 36, pleaded nary contention connected Thursday, Oct. 29, to a harassment complaint related to a bid of societal media incidents betwixt March 18 and April 8, according to online tribunal records.

As portion of the deal, prosecutors agreed to driblet a deadly behaviour complaint that Nichols was facing for allegedly displaying a pistol portion threatening and confronting a antheral implicit a "prior disagreement" successful the parking batch of a religion successful Harleton, the Longview News-Journal reports. Nichols received 12 months of probation and indispensable implicit 96 hours of assemblage service.

"He pled nary contention to a harassment case, and we took into information that deadly conduct," Harrison County Assistant District Attorney Charlotte Reeves, who prosecuted the case, told the section newspaper.

Nichols claimed to person "completely changed" aft the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack, successful which helium took weapons to the Capitol and assaulted members of the U.S. Capitol Police, according to a DOJ complaint.

His alleged actions suggested otherwise.

"Nichols confronted a taxable … and whenever the taxable attempted to permission and de-escalate the concern Nichols continued to face him," the Harrison County Sheriff's Office said successful a press release. "The unfortunate stated that they turned distant from Nichols and attempted to usher his household toward their conveyance portion asking Nichols to spell to his ain conveyance and leave."

Nichols, who attempted to tally for Congress earlier dropping retired successful 2025, allegedly continued confronting the unfortunate arsenic the antheral was putting his household successful his conveyance and asking Nichols "to permission him unsocial respective times."

After facing Nichols, the unfortunate told police that Nichols "raised his garment up to show a firearm" and placed his manus upon the grip successful a "threatening mode causing the unfortunate to beryllium successful fearfulness of imminent superior bodily injury," per the sheriff's office.

"He gripped it completely," Harrison County Sheriff B.J. Fletcher told section ABC affiliate KLTV successful an interrogation astir the incident. "He did much than capable motion to enactment you successful fearfulness of your life. That constitutes deadly conduct."

Describing the unfortunate and his family, Fletcher said, "Those radical are evidently frightened of him and did deliberation that helium was wanting that to escalate to different level."

Fletcher told KLTV that the unfortunate was not equipped and was "holding a Bible." He said that "luckily" a bystander stepped successful and de-escalated things.

"[The victim] had finished putting his kid successful the backseat," Fletcher recounted. "Another taxable that watched this happen, erstwhile the gunplay started, helium got retired and came implicit and got betwixt them and told them this isn't thing that needs to hap here. And they left."

Nichols was already wanted connected a harassment warrant erstwhile helium was arrested successful the deadly behaviour incident. He was among the 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by Trump connected the president's archetypal day of his 2nd word connected Jan. 20, 2025, aft being convicted for his engagement successful the Capitol attack.

"I americium the idiosyncratic to blasted for what happened that day," Nichols claimed successful 2023 astir the Jan. 6 onslaught arsenic helium pleaded blameworthy to a felony number of obstruction of an authoritative proceeding and a felony number of assaulting officers performing their duties, according to NBC News.

Nichols has said that his actions that time were a "bad choice" that helium was "very atrocious for."

On Jan. 6, 2026, Nichols said radical should "think done each decision," according to section CBS affiliate KYTX.

"Do not fto emotion override judgment," Nichols claimed. "You were pardoned once. There are nary guarantees beyond that."

Asked what prompted the plea woody past week, Reeves told the News-Journal, "It's thing they requested."

Nichols indispensable wage a $500 probated good and person nary interaction with the "alleged victims" successful either case, successful summation to probation and assemblage service. He is besides barred from consuming intoxicant oregon amerciable substances and from committing crimes successful immoderate state, and helium indispensable taxable to random urinalysis, among different requirements.

The station Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter dodges jailhouse yet again aft allegedly utilizing weapon to endanger churchgoer holding book and 'putting his kid' successful car archetypal appeared connected Law & Crime.