Real estate agent accused in Capitol riot blocked from using PayPal for donations



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A Texas real estate agent who took a private jet to the riot on the U.S. Capitol cannot use PayPal to accept donations, the company said.

Jennifer Ryan, who goes by Jenna Ryan on social media, was indicted last week after federal officials said she violated the Capitol on Jan.6 along with other supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

The Dallas-based real estate agent has been charged with disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds and knowingly entering or staying in a building or restricted land without lawful entry.

Ryan tweeted a link to his PayPal account on Thursday and asked for help with his legal fees and “losses due to my arrest and charges.” She had received $ 1,000 before PayPal closed the account.

“I am surrounded by hateful people who call me racist and ask me to go to jail for 10 or 20 years and say all kinds of horrible and mean things about me. They don’t even know me. They want my business destroyed. I need help from the Patriots, ”she wrote in a now deleted tweet.

PayPal said that although it has a long-standing policy of allowing fundraising for legal defense purposes, Ryan violated its policies by soliciting money for additional purposes.

“PayPal is scrutinizing the accounts, and if we learn that the funds are being used for anything other than legal defense, the account will be subject to immediate closure,” a company spokesperson said in a statement Friday.

Ryan did not immediately return a phone call and email for comment on Friday.

Federal officials said in court documents released last week that Ryan traveled with a group in a private plane to Washington DC earlier this month. In a since deleted Facebook video, the real estate agent said she was “going to come down and storm the Capitol.”

“They are out there right now and that’s why we came and that’s what we’re going to do. So wish me luck,” she said, according to court documents.

Investigators said she also televised live in the Capitol, and then tweeted about it a few hours later.

“We have just stormed the capital [sic]. It was one of the best days of my life, ”she writes.

During an interview on NBC’s “Today” show, Ryan said she went to Capitol Hill because she believed the election was rigged, but denied taking part in the violence.

“I was like ‘I don’t want to be here’ so I left the Capitol,” she said. “And they went on and I was like I wasn’t going to be a part of that, whatever. Then I was just there to document from that point on because I really saw it as a protest. “

Five people died in the breach, including a police officer from the Capitol.



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