Capitol rioter says he was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' in 'apology' letter to senator that never mentions he's sorry

• A Capitol rioter wrote an apology letter to a senator but never actually apologized.
• Francis Connor wrote a letter to Sen. Jeff Merkley about entering his office on January 6, 2021.

A Capitol rioter asking for a shorter sentence penned an "apology" letter to Sen. Jeff Merkley — whose office he entered during the siege on January 6, 2021 — but never actually apologized in the letter.

"Unfortunately I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time on January 6th, 2021, I entered the Capitol Building with zero harmful intent, just curiosity as to what was going on around me," Francis Connor wrote in his letter to Sen. Merkley.

The letter was included in court documents filed by his lawyer requesting a lesser sentence, arguing that Connor's only true crime was speaking in hyperbole about the insurrection via private Instagram messages and that he never intended to enter Sen. Merkley's office.

"As I walked in to an open door on my left, I found myself in a senator's office which I later found out to be yourself. Nothing was stolen or vandalized, I was just caught on a live feed looking through some books on your bookshelf," Connor said in the letter.

"That video and my presence there that day in general is not the best way I'd like to be characterized," he continued. "If I knew that was a senator's office, I wouldn't have entered because I hold our country's politicians in the highest regard."

Connor closed the letter by letting the Senator know he did not have "malicious" intent on that day, but most notably missing from the letter was an actual apology.

Connor's lawyer argued he entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021, after initially heading back to his car to return to New York City following the "Stop the Steal" rally. When he heard something was going on in the building, he walked to the building and entered through an open window, and spent only 10 minutes inside, his lawyer said.

"When Francis strolled through an office in the Capitol on January 6, he had no idea it belonged to Senator Jeff Merkley. Amongst his regrets from that day, Francis is ashamed that he disrespected Senator Merkley by traipsing through his office," Connor's lawyer, John J Gilsenan, an assistant federal public defender in the northern district of New York, said.

"It's the type of disrespectful behavior Francis loathes in others, so he wrote the Senator an apology letter," the lawyer said, pointing to the letter, which he attached as evidence.

Connor pleaded guilty in April to entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restrictive building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

His lawyer asked in his sentencing memorandum that Connor be sentenced to 12 months probation, 70 hours of community service, and $500 in restitution.