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WASHINGTON – A Texas man accused of participating in the Jan.6 uprising will remain in jail awaiting trial, a judge said Thursday, after threatening Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a police officer of the United States Capitol following the riot.
Garret Miller is accused not only of participating in the insurgency and resisting the Capitol officers, but also of making a series of threats in the hours and days that followed. In response to a tweet from Ocasio-Cortez on Jan.6 about the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, Miller replied, “Assassinate AOC.” He then sent a series of messages through various social media platforms threatening to lynch the still unidentified U.S. Capitol Police officer who killed Ashli Babbitt during the insurgency.
Miller believed the officer was black, according to a new case filed by prosecutors earlier this week, and his messages about the officer included “He’s a prize to be taken” and “He’s going to swing. . . . I had a rope in my bag that day. To date, Capitol Police have not released any information about the officer.
“We’re going to grab him and tie his neck with a nice rope,” Miller wrote in a Facebook chat on Jan. 18, according to the government.
Black Capitol Police officers described the racist threats and abuse they faced from the largely white mob of insurgents who descended on the Capitol on January 6, including being repeatedly called out the word n. Earlier this week, two Black Capitol Police officers filed a civil suit against Trump, claiming he was personally responsible for inciting the riot; the two police officers suffered physical and emotional injuries, and a “lost count” of the number of times he has been called racist slurs by rioters, according to the complaint.
Miller has been in custody since his Jan. 20 arrest, and earlier this month he asked a judge to reconsider a federal magistrate’s original detention order and release him pending trial. In a hearing Thursday, Miller’s attorney F. Clinton Broden argued that while Miller’s post-insurgency messages were “troubling,” there were strict release conditions that could ensure the safety of Miller. community, such as house arrest and 24 hour surveillance. He also noted that Miller had not been charged with assaulting police or using weapons during the riot and had not reacted to any of his online threats prior to his arrest.
US District Judge Carl Nichols denied Miller’s request and ordered him to remain in jail, giving special weight to Miller’s “specifically framed and articulated plans” to locate and kill a Capitol Police officer. In announcing the decision immediately after hearing the arguments, Nichols read aloud some of the threatening messages the government quoted in its brief advocating keeping Miller behind bars.
Nichols said it was true that Miller was not charged with the same level of violence as some people arrested after January 6, but the evidence also showed that he was not “suddenly swept” into the crowd this that day. The government featured Facebook messages Miller sent before Jan. 6 where he discussed bringing tactical gear – including a bulletproof vest and grappling hook – and guns to DC; there is no evidence that he actually brought any guns to Capitol Hill and he is not charged with this.
The government had also argued that Miller’s messages and conduct after Jan.6 showed no remorse for participating in the insurgency. When he was arrested, according to court documents, he was wearing a t-shirt with a photo of Trump with the text “Take America Back” and “I was there, Washington DC, January 6, 2021.”
The vast majority of those accused of joining the crowd of hundreds of Trump supporters who have descended on Capitol Hill have been allowed to return home while their business is pending. Prosecutors have focused the detention fights on cases involving assaults on police officers, destruction of property and allegations that people played leadership roles and conspired in advance to commit violence or prevent Congress to certify the results of the presidential election.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, which continues the Jan.6 cases, recently faced a setback in its efforts to keep some defendants in jail – the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued a ruling last week that made it more difficult for prosecutors. to win pre-trial detention in cases that do not involve specific allegations of violent activity and continued threat to the community.
Broden cited the ruling on Thursday, as a number of defendants challenging their detention did in the days that followed, but it ultimately didn’t help Miller’s case. He did not immediately return a request for comment.
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