Judge denies release of suspected rioter who returned for inauguration



[ad_1]

After the chaotic and violent day on Capitol Hill, Camargo returned home to Deerfield Beach, according to an FBI affidavit. When an FBI agent contacted him by phone, Camargo became uncooperative and questioned the agent’s loyalty to the Constitution, the court record says.

Camargo then saw law enforcement officials at his home and took off, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Poulin said in a bail hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington.

“He admitted to the officer upon his arrest that when we saw the police at his residence, who were there to execute a search warrant, he drove the other way,” Poulin said. “He traveled directly to Washington, DC … His response to this information was to return to the crime scene on another politically charged day where there was growing concern for further action.

Justice of the Peace Zia Faruqui said Camargo’s actions created too much risk for him not to appear for trial. “He was at least trying to escape prosecution. At worst, he could have done something worse than that, ”Faruqui said.

Faruqui said the attack on Capitol Hill came “at a crucial time in the founding of our democracy” and said Camargo’s return to Washington suggests he may feel “obligated” to take further action against it. federal government activities.

Camargo is accused of breaking federal riot law, illegally entering a restricted-access building, and disorderly conduct.

Meanwhile, a bail hearing scheduled for Thursday for a New Mexico County commissioner indicted in the Capitol Riot was scuttled after he allegedly refused to take a coronavirus test.

Couy Griffin, 47, the Cowboys leader for Trump, was arrested in Washington on Sunday after returning to the city following the Jan.6 unrest.

Legal proceedings related to his case were delayed Thursday and difficult to follow on a phone line that provides the only public access to the session.

Faruqui and a lawyer retained by Griffin’s family have indicated that the Otero County commissioner and former cowboy artist at Paris Disneyland either had Covid-19 or was suspected of having it. He was asked to take a test and refused, so he couldn’t be moved from an isolation unit to where prison officials facilitate video calls.

“We have to make sure he gets a fair shake here,” Faruqui said. “I’m afraid he won’t get that because of his refusal to speak in court. … I don’t like the idea of ​​him languishing over there while we make a decision.

Prosecutors have urged that Griffin also be kept in jail pending trial. They cite a series of provocative and inflammatory comments he made, including stating that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.” He later referred to his statement as saying he was only talking about politics and not physics.

At a county commission meeting last week in New Mexico, Griffin said he plans to bring weapons when he returns to Washington for the inauguration.

“I’m going to leave tonight or tomorrow. I have a Henry .357 Big Boy rifle. . . that I have in the trunk of my car, and I have a .357 single-action revolver. . . that I will have under the front seat on my right side, ”Griffin said. “I will accept my Second Amendment, I will keep my right to bear arms, my vehicle is an extension of my house under constitutional law, and I have the right to have these guns in my car.”

It is not known if Griffin actually had guns with him when he was arrested on Sunday.

Faruqui has postponed Griffin’s bail hearing to February 1.

Separately, another investigating judge on Thursday agreed to the release of an Iowa man who allegedly led a mob chasing U.S. Capitol Police Eugene Goodman down a staircase just outside the Senate Chamber during the riot of January 6.

Doug Jensen, 41, of Des Moines, is charged with a violation of riot law, as well as five misdemeanors related to the assault on the Capitol.

Prosecutors asked U.S. magistrate Celeste Bremer to hold Jensen without bail pending trial, but Bremer refused. Jensen, who is said to be a staunch follower of the QAnon conspiracy theory and who wore a “Q” sweatshirt during the Capitol Assault, was trying to become a “poster boy” for the movement, Bremer said.

In an order issued Thursday, the judge – who is also based in Des Moines – said she believed placing Jensen in house arrest with electronic surveillance would be enough to protect the community and secure his appearance at trial.

However, Bremer said Jensen will remain in an Iowa County jail until next Wednesday so prosecutors can appeal his decision.

Prosecutors have already filed two such appeals on bail issues and have obtained orders temporarily suspending those releases.

[ad_2]

Source link