SUDBURY -- In a case of mistaken identity, a Sudbury woman is feeling the heat after it appears a woman with the same name was part of the mob who stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Sudbury resident Jenna Ryan, is being mistaken for an American Jenna Ryan, who appears to have been protesting on Capitol Hill and posted to social media during the siege.

Ryan is a typical Sudburian and works a typical day job as a real estate agent.  However, it appears the other Jenna Ryan also works in real estate. The two also share similar features which has added to the confusion.

“I can’t say I’ve experienced anything similar. It is shocking, to see how news like this can travel, and how the coincidence occurs, that someone with my name can come from across the border and affect us all the way up here, up north.”

While the other Jenna Ryan is from Texas, Ryan acknowledges the two look eerily similar and recognizes how the mistake could have been made.

 “I’ve googled it before and I’ve come across her profile. The odds she’s a part of something like this,” said Ryan.

“The blonde hair of course when you have the same job, very easily people are getting confused by the looks of it.”

Ryan says the last 72 hours have been a lot to deal with, but as the hate messages continue to roll in, she’s trying to stay positive.

“Definitely a lot of negative things. Of course things you don’t want to read. Most understand the mistake and remove their comment once we nip it in the bud,” she said.

“Now there’s a couple people where they’re still arguing that what we’re saying isn’t true.”

Ryan’s assistant, Sydney Hutchins, says that while it has all come as a surprise, industry professionals have reached out to show their support.  

“It’s been very crazy. Very unexpected. I don’t think we ever saw our selves dealing with something like this. We have had a lot of support from our brokerage, other realtors in the city, friends and family, it’s just interesting.”

While she’s not sure about next steps, Ryan says her team is removing hate comments from her social media pages and website every 10 minutes.

“I’ve had people reaching out to me who I haven’t spoken to in 10-15 years, giving me their support, so that’s been really good. I want people to know that I don’t think there is a local concern.”

Despite the challenging start to 2021, Ryan says her focus remains on selling houses for her clients.