The Texas-based realtor who traveled to the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 on a private plane was kicked out of PayPal late on Thursday after trying to solicit donations for commercial losses.
Jenna Ryan, who was arrested last week, asked her Twitter followers for help on Thursday afternoon by sharing a link to a PayPal account where supporters can offer a donation. In a tweet, Ryan said, “I am accepting donations to pay legal fees and losses due to my arrest and charges by the FBI” and later claimed that he raised $ 1,000.
On Thursday night, PayPal closed the account, according to Kim Eichorn, a spokesman for PayPal.
“PayPal has a policy that allows funds to be raised for legal defense purposes,” said Eichorn in an email to CBS News. “PayPal scrutinizes the accounts and if we find that the funds are used for anything other than legal defense, the account will be subject to immediate closure. We can confirm that the account in question has been closed.”
Ryan acknowledged that his account was closed on Thursday night in Twitter: “Damn, I can’t do business with PayPal anymore. What am I going to do with myself? I think I’m going to survive. It seems that some people want to cancel me because I’m trying to get donations from PayPal. Great Woop.”
On Friday, Ryan was arrested and charged with “disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds” and “intentionally entering or staying in any restricted building or land without legal authority”.
“I have to go to trial in Washington DC for this misdemeanor,” Ryan said on Twitter before PayPal closed his account. “I believe I was unjustly arrested and accused and we have to fight for my freedom and decline [sic] my name.”
Via CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
Ryan is one of more than 125 protesters who were arrested for federal crimes for participating in the Capitol riots, according to the George Washington University Extremism Program. According to the billing documents, Ryan posted a 21-minute video on Facebook of her walking with a group toward the Capitol building. In a now deleted post, Ryan filmed himself entering the building through the Rotunda and saying, “Life or death, it doesn’t matter. Here we go.”
After the breach occurred, Ryan tweeted: “We just invaded the Capital (sic). It was one of the best days of my life.”
In an interview with CBS News affiliate in Dallas earlier this week, Ryan apologized to former President Donald J. Trump, claiming that she went to Washington DC because he was “doing what he asked us to do”.
“I feel like I was basically following my president,” said Ryan. “I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there. He asked us to be there.”