Neshaminy HS Grad Gets Prison For Involvement In Capitol Riots

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A graduate of Neshaminy High School has been sentenced to federal prison time for his involvement in the Capitol riots that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.

Leonard Pearso Ridge IV, 20, plead guilty in October to entering the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. with a mob of people. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg sentenced him on Tuesday, Jan. 4, to 14 days in prison, as well as 100 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine that will go toward the damages rioters caused last year.

Ridge, who was 19 at the time of the riots, took videos of him entering the Capitol building and texted friends about the ordeal. This evidence was seized by the FBI while they were investigating the people that were involved in the national incident that day.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Get in this (expletive),” he allegedly said on a Snapchat video. Another video allegedly has Ridge saying “America first, (expletive)” before he and other people entered the Capitol building.

According to court documents, "Ridge had previously expressed to a friend on social media that [he] believed the 2020 Presidential Election was stolen, and that something needs to change."

The documents also say Ridge had texted a friend his desire to partake in actions that would block Congressional actions in the presidential election.

Despite Ridge's involvement with rioters who entered the offices of Senator Mitch McConnell and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the court documents say there is no proof Ridge himself did any damage to property while he was entering and inside the Capitol building.

Ridge was arrested in Lower Southampton Township in May as the evidence was compiled by federal agents and law enforcement.

Judge Boasberg said he was lenient with his sentencing because of Ridge's age at the time of the incident, but that time in prison was the appropriate choice.

Ridge is now one of six people from Bucks County who have been charged and/or sentenced for their involvement in the riots.