Former Yakima County Commission candidate Lisa Homer sentenced for role in Jan. 6 insurrection

YAKIMA – Former Yakima County Commission candidate Lisa Homer was sentenced to three years’ probation for her role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Homer, who was also identified as Lisa Ann Boisselle in court documents, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to a single count of illegally demonstrating inside the U.S. Capitol, a class B misdemeanor.

As part of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors dropped charges of disorderly conduct and illegally entering the Capitol.

She received a letter of support from Yakima Deputy Mayor Soneya Lund, who said she wrote as a friend who did not endorse Homer’s politics.

“While I don’t agree with her, she has always been kind,” Lund said.

Homer, 51, was among thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump who stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was certifying the Electoral College votes, in which former Vice President Joe Biden defeated Trump.

Homer, who attended Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally where he urged his followers to march on the Capitol and fight for their country, was seen in videos wearing black clothes and a ballistic vest with a plate to stop rifle bullets.

Prosecutors said it was similar attire to that worn by the Proud Boys, whom they described as a nationalist group that uses violence against those it perceives as opponents.

Homer, prosecutors said, was seen standing near a leader of the Proud Boys who was doing a “call and response” chant, with Homer actively chanting.

Video showed Homer put on a camouflage-painted helmet, goggles and a gaiter before entering the Capitol through a breached door.

In a memorandum seeking leniency, Homer argued she had gone to the rally but entered the Capitol in a lapse of judgment and, when she tried to leave, was delayed by the crush of people there.

She also donned the helmet and goggles because she had been struck by what she thought was a rubber bullet in the head, and did not want to be injured. She said she had previously suffered a traumatic brain injury in a domestic violence incident.

Cellphone records showed Homer spent an hour in the building, according to court records, with video showing her going through various parts of the building and taking pictures.

Prosecutors, in seeking jail time, argued that Homer’s attire suggested she was not there for a peaceful protest.

“Homer chose to change into a helmet and goggles before transitioning from the exterior West Plaza grounds to the inside of the Capitol building. This suggests that Homer went ready for battle and/or violence,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “Had Homer been concerned about rubber bullets and/or a head injury, she should have stayed out of the mob of rioters who illegally entered the U.S. Capitol.”

Contacted Thursday, Homer said she was pleased to have her case resolved.

“A lot of people who didn’t go into the building got sentences,” Homer said. “There were four judges and I felt blessed to get Judge (Trevor) McFadden, because he is a constitutionalist.”

She said the FBI also admitted that she was not in the building for the entire hour prosecutors claimed. She said the FBI said the cellphone tracking used to establish her whereabouts was not accurate.

She said going in one of “the dumbest things” she had done in her life, and if she could do it over again, she wouldn’t have done it.

But she does not believe that Trump incited the mob to violence. She said most people were planning to just march down and merely stand outside the building, but that some pushed inside. She alleged that the media had “twisted” Trump’s words.

She also said that her decision to wear some protective gear was because of alleged clashes between Trump supporters and “Antifa,” a phrase used to describe various left-leaning militant groups, as well as getting hit by a projectile.

As for the Proud Boys, Homer said she is not affiliated with them, but knows them from other rallies, where she said they were protecting people from Antifa. She said she only learned the name of the Proud Boys leader standing near her at the Capitol when she saw her court documents.

But does Homer think that Biden was legitimately elected president?

“Absolutely not,” Homer said. “He got 8 million ballots (more than Trump), but he didn’t get 8 million more votes.”

In her letter to the court, Lund said she first met Homer in 2019 when Lund was running for Yakima City Council. She said she learned that Homer had a traumatic head injury from being hit by her then-husband in 2013.

In a sheriff’s incident report included in the federal court documents, Homer said that her husband had struck her in the head. Initially charged in Yakima County District Court with fourth-degree assault, he was convicted of an amended charge of obstructing police.

“That experience may have been what drew us together as we both spent considerable time volunteering and supporting victims of domestic violence. In 2020, I accompanied her to the sentencing hearing of her husband for the assault that resulted in her head trauma,” Lund wrote. “In 2020 and 2021, I was a victim of harassment and stalking brought on by a fellow council member, and Lisa flew to me to be with me through that very scary ordeal and supported me through the whole court process.”

Lund had sought a protection order against then-Council member Jason White, alleging that he had harassed her.

While Lund said she and Homer don’t share the same political convictions – Lund said she “celebrates” the results of the 2020 election – she said Homer would not hurt anyone.

“We should all be lucky to have a friend like her,” Lund wrote.

Homer unsuccessfully ran for county commission in 2018. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.