SLO County man who stormed U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 avoids prison time
A Cambria man was sentenced to one year of probation last week for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Cameron Clapp, 38, was identified as one of the Jan. 6 rioters through photos, video, travel records and his cell phone data after the FBI received a tip that Clapp had been inside the U.S. Capitol building and on restricted grounds, court records show.
He pleaded guilty on July 5 to federal disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building or grounds and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
Surveillance footage showed Clapp made it inside the building for a total of two minutes, and another video showed that he admitted it to entering the building and was “satisfied.”
On Tuesday, Clapp was sentenced to 12 months of probation, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed to The Tribune. He also must pay $500 in restitution for his part in the nearly $3 million of damage rioters caused in the Capitol and losses to the Metropolitan Police Department, his sentencing agreement said.
Cambria man ‘satisfied’ with storming Capitol building, he says in video
One photo pictured Clapp holding an American flag with a prosthetic arm while wearing a “distinctive vest” on restricted grounds of the Capitol. The same prosthetic arm and vest were found on Clapp’s public Facebook page in a photo commemorating his college graduation from Cal Poly.
Clapp was identified in two open source videos and on Capitol surveillance footage. One video showed him walking past the Smithsonian and another showed him just after he exited the Capitol building outside the Senate Wing Door.
“I made it in but there’s (pause) nobody’s in, like everyone’s leaving so (pause) I did my part. I’m ... satisfied,” court records said Clapp said in the video.
Surveillance footage from the Capitol shows Clapp entering the building at around 3:36 p.m. and taking photos and video in the area near the Senate Wing Door before exiting the building from the Northwest Door at 3:38 p.m.
Cell phone data from Clapp’s phone at the time showed he had been using his phone in the area of the Capitol building, court records said. The Tribune tried calling the number the FBI tracked, but it was disconnected from service.
Additionally, court records said, Clapp flew from San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Dec. 30, 2020, and then returned to San Luis Obispo on Jan. 10, 2021. He stayed at the AC Hotel Marriott Washington, D.C., Convention Center from Jan. 5-7, 2021.
