Ryan J. Reilly Profile picture
@NBCNews Justice reporter. 📚Author of SEDITION HUNTERS, one of Publishers Weekly’s best books of 2023 https://t.co/of2wEZEgyy SIGNAL: ryanjreilly.62 🚲

Oct 20, 2021, 6 tweets

This is from a few months ago, but boy did the feds botch their interpretation of this anti-Biden sticker at the home of a Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on video forcibly breaching the police lines and bragged about “fighting cops and shit.”

Anyway, Paul Russell Johnson was in court today trying to sever his case from Stephen Chase Randolph, who was tracked down thanks to a facial recognition hit on his girlfriend’s public Instagram page: huffpost.com/entry/facial-r…

Johnson’s lawyers wrote that he faced "soul-crushing anxiety” and that the government wrongfully labeled him a “Three Percenter.”

He did have a "III" sticker and a bunch of weapons at his home.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

DOJ: "'soul-crushing anxiety' of 'being caged in the Age of Mass Incarceration' and the reputational harm he has allegedly suffered after being publicly charged for his conduct... do not hamper or otherwise prejudice his ability to prepare a defense.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

Johnson’s team argued that his "defense has already been impaired because many of the participants in the Stop the Steal rally have removed pictures and video content from the internet.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

Anyway, wasn’t able to catch this hearing on the motion to sever today (let me know if you did!) but lawyers are talking.

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