NEW: Kentucky federal magistrate judge has ordered Stephen Chase Randolph detained pretrial and sent to D.C.
(Video shows him breaking down the barriers and knocking over a Capitol Police officer, rendering her unconscious.)
huffpost.com/entry/facial-r…
Judge wrote that Randolph had a "mostly law-abiding past” but engaged "in an egregious, injurious, and felonious assault on a federal law enforcement officer as part of a broader effort to disrupt the democratic process of the United States government.” documentcloud.org/documents/2069…
Randolph’s conduct, the judge wrote “shocks the conscious.” After Randolph knocked over the Capitol Police officer and caused her to hit her head on a metal stair handrail, he went on to assault more officers and left her an “unconscious heap on the ground.”
The magistrate judge found that the government had not proven risk of flight. His girlfriend (whose Instagram post led the feds to Randolph through facial recognition) and her family support him, despite disagreeing with Randolph’s political views.
Judge says that given the circumstances of Jan. 6 there’s little chance he’d once again participate in a "political-rally-turned-violent-insurrectionist-mob.”
But…
"Randolph’s actions as viewed on the videos from that day show a man who is capable of assaulting law enforcement, injuring an officer, and going back for more 'fucking fun’ by fighting with two more officers.”
"The Court cannot conclude that an individual who, after three months of reflection, brags
to a stranger about the behavior he exhibited on the YouTube and Instagram videos, does not pose
a serious danger to the community.”
It’s pretty clear that the FBI went with the rare undercover route here because federal cases built on facial recognition hits are relatively novel. And ultimately it was the comments the UCEs solicited that resulted in the judge’s decision on detention. huffpost.com/entry/facial-r…
Also, a federal grand jury has now indicted Randolph alongside Paul Russell Johnson. justice.gov/usao-dc/case-m…
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