Thread by @alanfeuer

Good morning. I'm starting Thread #20 on new arrests in the Capitol riot and updates on continuing cases. Previous threads can be found below.

On Sunday, lawyers for Proud Boy leader Ethan Nordean indicated in court papers that they're preparing to a file a motion to dismiss his conspiracy indictment. Nordean has argued from the start that the govt has offered misleading info in stitching together faulty charges.

Interesting:
The guy who took over the Seattle chapter of the Proud Boys from Ethan Nordean after his arrest submitted a statement w/Nordean's new filing on Sunday saying the Elder's Chapter of the PB's--its executive committee--will be dissolved pending a vote next month.

You would think that prosecuting a violent riot at the Capitol would be an open and shut case. But in the legal world things are never quite so simple.
Thanks to @kevinroose and the Daily for having me on to discuss the court challenges surrounding Jan. 6.
nytimes.com/2021/05/17/pod…

NEW: Two days before the Capitol attack, Proud Boy leader Charles Donohoe "reported intelligence" from media accounts about troop deployments in DC to other leaders on a chat, according to a new filing. Prosecutors are seeking to detain Donohoe, from NC, before trial.

Recall that Donohoe, aka YutYut, was seen w/alleged NY Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola carrying a stolen police riot shield. Prosecutors also say that they were in the mob that pushed up the Capitol stairs & overwhelmed the cops w/another PB, Daniel Scott, known as Milkshake.

Prosecutors say that the advance up the stairs by Donohoe & Milkshake allowed Pezzola to make his way to a window at the Capitol. He smashed the window, in a now iconic photo, and became one of the first people to breach the building itself.

A new Telegram chat (by an unnamed participant) included in the Donohoe filing suggests that some Proud Boys were talking about storming the Capitol "for weeks" and on 1/6 were "getting what [they] wanted."
"So many of you have been calling for this for weeks," the PB wrote.

For context, Donohoe is charged with three other Proud Boy leaders, Ethan Nordean (Seattle), Joe Biggs (Fla.) & Zach Rehl (Philly). All of them are detained and are seeking to be released.

The FBI has gotten tips about Capitol rioters from spouses, ex-spouses, co-workers, colleagues, former classmates.
The one that led to the arrest of Daniel Warmus may be the first to have come from an eavesdropper at the dentist's office.

Prosecutors have charged Micajah Jackson, an Arizona man who marched w/the Proud Boys on the Capitol. Jackson, who runs an Instagram account called theJfkreport, denied he was a PB member in an interview w/the FBI, court papers say.

Prosecutors say that Jackson was wearing an orange armband like many Proud Boys in the mob that marched on the Capitol. Jackson says that members of the group from Arizona gave him the armband, according to court papers.

So...the viral quote by Albert Watkins, the Q Shaman's lawyer, disparaging those w/mental disabilities lives on:
Now another lawyer w/a Capitol defendant has asked a judge to sever her client's case from one of Watkins' other clients, saying Watkins' statement were inflammatory.

Further proof in a new filing today that some Capitol rioters were in fact armed on Jan. 6.
Texas man Shane Jenkins went to DC w/metal tomahawks, prosecutors say, after telling a friend on Facebook, "I don't like the idea of a war popping off and all I can do is punch lol."

Prosecutors say Jenkins used the tomahawk to break a window at the Capitol but also hurled other dangerous objects--sticks, flag poles, even a desk drawer--at the cops protected the Lower West Terrace tunnel.

Pauline Bauer, a Pennsylvania restaurant owner arrested today for storming the Capitol, began losing business over the past year, a witness told the FBI, b/c she grew increasingly political and customers were "uncomfortable" w/her "constant political rhetoric."

Police body cameras show Bauer telling the cops at the Capitol that she wants them to bring Nancy Pelosi out to the mob.
"We want to hang that fucking bitch," Bauer is heard saying. Then: "We're coming in if you don't bring her out."

JUST IN: Prosecutors have charged another member of the Oath Keepers militia in connection w/the riot at the Capitol.
According to court papers, James Breheny is the coordinator for the Bergen County NJ chapter of the group.

In late December, prosecutors say, Breheny invited Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes to a meeting of "multiple patriot groups" in Quarryville, Pa. on Jan. 3.
The purpose of the meeting--for leaders only--was to "organize for the show," court papers quote Breheny telling Rhodes.

Cell phones were not allowed at the militia meeting, Breheny told Rhodes.
He indicated that phones needed to be placed safely into a Faraday bag before arrival.

In an interview w/the FBI, Breheny said he was at the Capitol on 1/6 and was "pushed inside by the surge of people entering the building."
A dozen other Oath Keepers have been charged in a conspiracy case w/storming the building too.

But prosecutors say that video evidence shows Breheny lied about being swept into the Capitol accidentally. Instead, they say, he entered "via a violent and sustained assault against law enforcement officers."

Using a pseudonym account ("Seamus Evers"), prosecutors say, Breheny wrote on Facebook on 1/6:
"We exhausted all legal channels. They refuse to investigate any of crimes or voter issues....The People’s Duty is to replace that Government with one they agree with."

JUST IN: Prosecutors have charged Proud Boy Daniel Scott, aka Milkshake, for attacking police officers at the Capitol. Recall that Milkshake was seen in videos on 1/6 shouting "Let's take the f****ing Capitol!" in a mob led by colleagues Joe Biggs & Ethan Nordean.

In the video, Nordean himself ID's Milkshake by name--as prosecutors point out in charging docs.

Prosecutors accuse Milkshake of being one of the first rioters to physically confront cops on the west side of the Capitol, as seen below

For now, Scott/Milkshake stands charged by complaint as a sole defendant and is not part of the Proud Boy leadership indictment w/Biggs & Nordean.

The charging documents used to pick up Leonard P. Ridge IV in connection with Capitol riot say he had the following exchange with a friend by Snapchat DM on Jan. 7.

FRIEND: "You are the alpha male"
...

RIDGE: "Just pray for me that I don’t get arrested by the fbi"

The texts that Capitol Hill defendant Cleveland Meredith sent on Jan. 7 to various people while holed up in his DC hotel room with his edibles and firearms are really something...
They were contained in a judge's order today denying him bail.

Q Shaman lawyer Albert Watkins--he of the "short bus"-slur fame--has filed a new motion to release his client and it's a doozy. Watkins claims the Shaman tried to stop another rioter from stealing a muffin from the Capitol breakroom & references another "fur wearing caveman."

The Shaman--real name Jacob Angeli--underwent a psych eval this week at Watkins' request. In the new filing Watkins notes the Shaman's mental state has deteriorated from prolonged custody, the effects of which "like ivy, have slept, crept & now leapt."

Watkins describes his client as "the media driven face of January 6." But he makes no mention of his energetic efforts to keep Chansley in the spotlight. (See: His "60 Minutes" appearance.)

The filing ends w/some Khmer Rouge references ("re-education prison camps") and a quote from the poem "Babi Yar" ("Here, silently, all screams, and hat in hand, I feel my hair changing shade to gray...")
One can only imagine Watkins' openings if & when Chansley goes to trial...

Prosecutors have filed new charges against Washington State man Jeremy Grace, below right, whose father Jeffrey, left, was already charged.
The feds say both men were caught on video (likely taken by Proud Boy Eddie Brock) in the crowd of Proud Boys that marched on the Capitol.

Given today's chatter about the 1/6 Proud Boy conspiracies, it's interesting that prosecutors have indicted 2 Florida members, Arthur Jackman & Paul Rae, formerly charged separately.
Conspiracy (371) is NOT charged here & there's no evidence yet as why they're charged together.

The only public connection (so far) b/t Jackman & Rae is the photo below, taken from the phone of Florida Proud Boy leader Joe Biggs. That's Jackman to the left, Raw to the right.

Just now in a hearing, the prosecutor in the case of Capitol Hill rioter Jenny Cudd said that Cudd's lawyer asked for a deferred prosecution agreement--ie. charges basically dropped--was told that's not happening.
Trial tentatively set for February 7.

A few new details on a busload of NC Oath Keepers that went to DC on 1/6. The bus made three stops, the feds say: at the Lincoln Memorial, near the Washington Monument & at the Capitol.
Prosecutors say the stops may have informed a later chat by Florida OK Kelly Meggs...

According to a new filing, the government does not oppose Florida Oath Keeper Connie Meggs' request to expand the boundaries of her GPS monitoring so that she can care for her livestock and domestic animals.

Here's a new one.
Prosecutors say that Kene Lazo, who was charged today, breached the Capitol w/a Filipino-style broom covered in language promoting conspiracy theories.