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A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the release of a Tennessee man accused of storming the U.S. Capitol last month armed with zip ties.
In a scathing opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said Nashville resident Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, and his mother, Woodstock, Ga., Nurse Leslie Marie Eisenhart, 56, were both posing an “obvious danger to the republic” in a way that would have troubled George Washington.
In widely circulated photographs, Munchel was seen inside the Senate chamber with zip ties and a holster taser. He was one of two men nicknamed “zip tie guys” because of the pictures. Eisenhart was next to him in some of the pictures.
By joining pro-Trump crowds and attacking the Capitol on Jan.6 in an attempt to overturn the November election won by President Joe Biden, the suspects have struck at the heart of American democracy, the judge said.
Lamberth quoted Washington’s famous farewell speech in 1796 when the nation’s first president declared: “The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the law. government established. “
“Indeed, few offenses threaten our way of life more,” the judge wrote of the charges against the suspects.
Munchel, arrested on January 10, and Eisenhart, taken into police custody on January 16, were charged with conspiracy, entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct during the deadly riot.
A magistrate judge had previously granted their release, but suspended the order to allow federal prosecutors to appeal.
Lamberth cited interviews Munchel and Eisenhart both gave to The Times of London, when they compared January 6 to the American Revolution of 1776, as evidence that they would be inclined to violence to achieve political goals.
“In word and deed, Munchel supported the violent overthrow of the government of the United States. He poses a clear danger to the republic,” Lamberth wrote. “In word and deed, Eisenhart supported the violent overthrow of the United States government. As an avowed martyr, she represents an obvious danger for our republic.
The two will remain in jail until the trial, the judge ruled.
Lawyers for the suspects could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.
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