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Christopher John Price

Pardoned January 6 defendant

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Christopher John Price is a Maryland husband from Emmitsburg, up in Frederick County, and on January 6, 2021 he walked into the Capitol next to his wife. FACT: Christopher John Price and his wife, Cynthia Catherine Ballenger, are both from Emmitsburg, Maryland, and were charged together in the same federal complaint. Husband and wife. One case. FACT: they were arrested in Maryland on August 9, 2021, and released on personal recognizance three days later. Neither one spent the case behind a wall. FACT: the published case summaries of this prosecution contain no allegation that Christopher Price or Cynthia Ballenger committed any act of violence on January 6. Not one punch, not one weapon, not one broken thing charged to them. CHARGE ONLY: four misdemeanor counts. Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building. Disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. THEIR ACCOUNT / NEEDS AUTHENTICATION: reporting on the case quotes text messages the government attributes to Price that day, including "Worth fighting for Trump." Those quotes come from the government's charging papers. This archive has not examined the originals and does not present them as authenticated. THE LEGAL FIGHT FACT: a plea agreement never came together, so Christopher Price went to trial. He made the government prove it. FACT: he was tried at a bench trial in the District of Columbia and found guilty on all four counts. FACT: on September 29, 2023 he was sentenced to 45 days of incarceration followed by 9 months of probation, with $500 restitution and $70 in special assessments. FACT: on January 20, 2025, President Trump granted clemency covering the January 6 prosecutions. Here is what the record shows. A married couple from a small town in the Maryland mountains took four misdemeanors all the way to a federal bench trial in Washington, D.C., lost, and the husband served time measured in days for walking through a building. Put that next to January 6 cases that ended in a fine and nothing else, and ask why the ruler keeps changing length. WHAT THIS DOES NOT PROVE: it does not prove the verdict was wrong. WHAT IT DOES PROVE: Christopher John Price did not take a deal. He made them try it. CASE RECORD Case 1:21-mj-550, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Carried forward as 1:21-cr-719. DOJ Capitol Breach page: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/defendants/price-christopher-john Docket as recorded: Arrested 8/9. This profile is preserved from the DOJ Capitol Breach case list this site mirrored after the government scrubbed it from justice.gov. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.