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In a Tuesday afternoon hearing on Sullivan’s terms of release, Washington-based trial judge Robin Meriweather differentiated between prosecutors seeking to eliminate Sullivan’s presence on social media platforms. most popular United States and a defense attorney who spoke out against what he called an assault. on the constitutional rights of his client.
“I reject the broader ban on Twitter and Facebook and encrypted social media platforms,” said Meriweather, also ordering that Sullivan be removed from 24-hour location monitoring via GPS.
However, the judge said Sullivan “will no longer work for Insurgence USA”, will have his internet use monitored by probation officers, and will be banned from using all social media platforms to incite riots, violent protests. , armed conflict or violence. He is also in house arrest.
Sullivan has become one of the most prominent people indicted in the Capitol Riot due to interviews he did with news outlets like CNN and heated debate over whether he is an Antifa provocateur . Figures such as ex-lawyer for former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, have pointed to Sullivan as proof that leftists were part of the mob that stormed the Capitol. Liberal activists have denounced these claims as disinformation.
Sullivan’s policy remains murky. He described himself as an opponent of Trump and a supporter of Black Lives Matter. However, BLM activists in Utah denied him, saying he appeared determined to cause violence during the protests. They also noted that Sullivan often appears to work in tandem with his brother, James, who spoke at a right-wing event, Proud Boys.
Defense attorney Steven Kiersh has denounced the prosecution’s initial proposal as being extremely excessive and insensitive to the role Facebook and Twitter play in the lives of many young people.
“The boundaries of social media are incredibly oppressive, incredibly too wide, and serve no purpose other than to fundamentally oppress Mr. Sullivan,” Kiersh said. “Mr. Sullivan is very involved in the exchange of ideas among his peers, and that’s how he does it.
But U.S. Assistant Prosecutor Candice Wong also twisted Kiersh’s suggestion that John Sullivan uses Twitter and Facebook like others his age. “The presence of the accused on social networks … does not read like the typical presence of a twenty-something on social networks,” she said. “It’s not a question of time. It’s not about communicating with friends.
Kiersh insisted that there was “no connection” between Insurgence USA and the crimes Sullivan is accused of, despite the sale of video footage of the Capitol Riot to the mainstream media.
However, Wong argued that Sullivan’s social media presence was an integral part of his activities on January 6 and the previous violent protests he had participated in.
“Insurgence USA is absolutely the instrument by which Mr. Sullivan committed the relevant acts,” she said. “That’s why Mr. Sullivan was there and for his criminal involvement in the riot.”
At one point in the hearing, Meriweather questioned whether Sullivan’s videos incited protest or riots. “There is a distinction,” she said.
Wong said Sullivan’s videos unambiguously called for violence and attacks on police. She said he served “as a sort of expert resource for rioters.”
“Under the guise of journalism…. he is engaged in and incited to violent activities, including the kind of destructive society that we saw on January 6, ”said the prosecutor. She said Twitter and Facebook are looking to block some of Sullivan’s accounts, but have a variety of descriptors that promote each other.
Wong also noted that the request to ban Sullivan from Twitter and Facebook was in fact more restricted than the conditions a Utah magistrate had placed on Sullivan, barring him from using 13 different sites or platforms. She also mentioned that Sullivan’s former attorney was okay with this.
“I cannot explain why the attorneys representing Mr. Sullivan in Utah agreed to these terms,” Kiersh said.
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