Thread by @alanfeuer

Good morning, I'm starting Thread #13 of new Capitol riot arrests and ongoing case updates here.
You can find previous threads archived below.

https://twitter.com/alanfeuer/status/1369241800054108166

Christian Secor, the UCLA student who founded a campus chapter of America 1st in honor of white nationalist Groyper Nick Fuentes, has asked a judge for bail after his arrest in the Capitol riot.
In papers filed last night his parents said they'd pay his $300k bond.

Prosecutors unseal new charges vs Mark Ponder who twice attacked cops at the Lower W Terrace of the Capitol w/wooden poles.
"Deep in your heart, you know…your fathers, your grandfathers, they fought for this freedom...which people are giving away," he told cops in an interview.

When the FBI first interviewed Danny Carlton about his involvement in the Capitol riot, court papers say, he denied that he & friend Bradley Weeks went inside the building.
But then agents got hold of his text messages w/Weeks.

Confess that I cannot stop looking at this photo posted on 1/1/2021 by Scott Fairlamb, a NJ man charged w/violently assaulting cops at the Capitol.
In court papers filed today, prosecutors said that Fairlamb captioned the image: "“It’s the Peaky Fookin Blinders! Happy New Year!”

Prosecutors have unsealed charges against Jeffrey McKellop for assaulting cops at the Capitol. An FBI witness has described McKellop as a retired US Army Special Forces operator.

This passage from a new motion for release filed by accused Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins reflects the struggle defense lawyers & prosecutors will have in the coming weeks/months: Does the FBI's evidence on extremist gps prove a preplanned conspiracy to storm the Capitol or not?

You've seen similar claims from Watkins' co-defendant in the Oath Keeper case Tom Caldwell. You've also heard it from Proud Boys like Ethan Nordean. In both cases, there's evidence defendants were anticipating violence on Jan. 6. But they say they weren't planning to *do* it

Here's that idea in Watkins' new bond motion.

The battle lines of the Capitol prosecutions are being drawn at the boundaries of misdemeanors & felonies.
The feds could close the book on nearly every case w/simple trespass or dis-con charges. But there's (naturally) a desire to charge more serious crimes.

One way to get more serious charges is by making assault-vs-cop cases for which there is lots of visual evidence. A separate path is to prove a preplanned conspiracy to attack the Capitol. That's obviously much harder and the evidence will be challenged hard by defense lawyers.

Watkins admits her new request for release comes after a 1st look at the govt's discovery (i.e., the evidence is weak so free me.) But it's early in the game and the FBI is sifting thru an unprecedented amt of material. More & better evidence may or may not emerge.

Another defendant in the Oath Keeper case, Laura Steele of North Carolina, notes in her own just-filed bond request that her husband is a retired chief of police, one of her sons serves in the same department and her other son is about work there too.
The wife and mother of cops.

The newly unsealed charges against Robert Scott Palmer of Florida show what other documents have shown: that "combat" is an accurate description for what took place at the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol.

The superseding indictment will be interesting. But I'm especially intrigued by what the "related documents" might be...

Prosecutors say that Bobby Schornak (left) and Dan Herendeen (2nd from right) showed up at the Capitol on 1/6 w/goggles, knives, body armor and a canister of what they called "Antifa spray."

The FBI found photos of Nick "BustaaReim" Reimler on a ski trip and at the Capitol riot.

You gotta love the district courts.
Chief Judge Beryl Howell in DC is now deciding what seems to be a matter of first impression at a bail hearing for accused Proud Boy Chris Worrell: whether pepper spray gel should be considered a dangerous weapon and thus trigger detention.

DC Judge Beryl Howell goes after the Proud Boys at a hearing for Florida member Chris Worrell.
Worrell's lawyer says the PBs are a political, not a criminal, group.
"I think that remains to be seen," Judge Howell says, adding. "I think it's meeting most of the indicia of a gang."

Some interesting evidence in the new Proud Boys conspiracy indictment:
Prosecutors connect the four defendants--PB leaders from Washington State, Philly, Florida & NC--through an encrypted message channel titled "New MOSD" set up after PB leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested.

The Proud Boys set up another encrypted chat called "Boots on the Ground" for 1/6, prosecutors say, w/60 users including all four defendants: Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zach Rehl & Charles Donohoe.

On the Proud Boys' encrypted chat--"Boots on the Ground"--an unindicted co-conspirator mentions a ZELLO channel.
Coincidentally or not, the Oath Keepers used Zello too.

Also, this is classic Proud Boy advice: "Don't get drunk until the off the street."

Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio was in touch w/his friend Joe Biggs & aware of the group's plans on Jan. 6, according to the encrypted comms cited in the indictment. Tarrio was at home that day after being banned from DC by a judge following a local police arrest.

Interesting: First time I've seen charging documents clearly ID Gilbert Garcia & Joshua Pruitt as Proud Boy members.

Prosecutors have gone big in the new Proud Boys indictment saying the conspiracy began in Nov. w/social media posts.
"It's time for fucking war if they steal this shit," Joe Biggs wrote.
"Hopefully the firing squads are for the traitors," wrote Zach Rehl, a leader from Philly.

As the camera crossed Debra Maimone's face, prosecutor say, she told the guy filming her that storming the Capitol was AMAZING.
The cameraman responded, PUT YOUR MASK ON. I DON'T WANT THEM TO SEE YOU.

PARLER USER: So you were illegally occupying a govt bldg.

DEBRA MAIMONE: I'm not saying that you stupid couch potato. I'm saying I was at a govt bldg FULL OF TYRANTS.

Here's how big the Oath Keepers conspiracy case is: a new court filing says the govt's INITIAL discovery was 35 gigs of data: arrest paperwork, interview recordings, phone & social media records, photos, videos.
The case has yielded over 50 search warrant returns & 150 subpoenas

Just noticing that in a new detention memo filed today, prosecutors say that former Special Forces operator Jeffrey McKellop, who's been charged w/multiple assaults against cops at the Capitol, deployed as recently as 2018 as a contractor for CIA.

NEW: After a new conspiracy indictment was unsealed against him on Friday, prosecutors are asking a judge to put Seattle Proud Boy leader Ethan Nordean back in jail pretrial.
Nordean had been released on March 3.

Prosecutors, it seems, are claiming that Nordean and his three co-conspirators are criminally liable for the actions of all the Proud Boys in the mob that attacked the Capitol. That would include Dominic "Spaz" Pezzola who smashed a window w/stolen police riot shield.

Prosecutors are also moving to detain Florida Proud Boy Joe Biggs, one of Nordean's co-conspirators. Biggs has been out on bond since his arrest in January.

Good afternoon, @USAO_DC. If you are saying that Joe Biggs has no known criminal history may I suggest taking a look at the following story that @ddknyt and I published last weekend.
nytimes.com/2021/03/14/us/…