NEW: The 16-year-old daughter of alleged insurrectionist GUY REFFITT testified on his behalf today and against her brother — who accused Reffitt of threatening them.
The judge locked him up anyway, calling the evidence grave.
The hearing, though was unusually personal, with REFFITT’s wife, daughter and daughter’s boyfriend participating. They were watching along via Zoom when Magistrate Zia Faruqui ordered him held without bail.
REFFITT’s hearing underscored that the riot cases aren’t just an existential national problem but have torn apart families and communities too. politico.com/news/2021/03/1…
Reffitt, a militia leader, did not cut a sympathetic figure: he brought guns to DC and told associates he was armed at the Capitol. His behavior so alarmed his family, his son reported him to the FBI in Dec. A family member recorded him from Jan. 8-11.
When he returned home he told his kids that if they reported him they’d be traitors, and “traitors get shot.” His daughter testified today that her dad is all talk and never meant it. His son has moved to an undisclosed location for safety. politico.com/news/2021/03/1…
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NEW Capitol riot case underscores the chaos facing officers. At 2:49pm they arrested Mark Ponder for striking officers with a pole (one of several examples captured on camera here). 1/X
Officers quesitoned him while they awaited transport, expecting a vehicle to come and pick him up. He berated them the whole time. 2/X
At 3:15, officers released PONDER without any charges because they realized no transport was coming, and they were needed for riot control. 3/X
@joshgerstein The FBI has video and images of the two men. Khater alleged grabbed the spray out of Tanio's pack, causing officers to retreat from their injuries. One of the other injured officers had " scabbing that remained
on her face for weeks."
NEW: A Navy security contractor was arrested for rioting at the Capitol. Since then, investigators interviewed *44* of his colleagues and found he was widely known as a white supremacist, often expressed Jew hatred and even wore a Hitler mustache to work.
Prosecutors are seeking to hold Hale-Cusanelli pending trial even though he didn’t commit any violence while breaching the Capitol. His poisonous views and “fantasy” to participate in a civil war to carry them out make him a danger, they say.
Prosecutors revealed the results of the NCIS investigation in part because one of those interviewed — who confirmed Hale-Cusanelli often spoke negatively about Jews — changed his tune in a letter to the judge supporting Hale-Cusanelli’s release. politico.com/news/2021/03/1…
BREAKING: Judge Amit MEHTA orders the *release* of Thomas CALDWELL, a member of the Oath Keepers, from pretrial detention.
"There is an absense of direct evidence, at least, of planning by Caldwell to enter the Capitol building ... And ultimately, he did not enter the building."
Caldwell, 65, has serious health issues. Mehta also ruled he can't have access to computers/internet. He can't have any contact with anyone affiliated with the Capitol investigation.
Basically, he says, the govt didn't fully show his direct role in planning Capitol siege.
NEWS: Prosecutors are asking for a 60-day delay across a series of Capitol riot cases, calling the investigation the “most complex” in history and estimating at least 100 more will face charges.
In a series of cases, prosecutors say they need at least a two-month slowdown to process a massive trove of evidence — 900 executed search warrants, 15,000 hours of video, hundreds of witness interviews.
NEWS: Prosecutors have charged a *second* Oath Keeper associated with Roger Stone for a role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Joshua James was one of the militia members IDed by the Times as a Stone security guard on Jan. 5-6. courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
To put a fine point on it: Here are the images the Times story who flag James as Oath Keeper 1: nytimes.com/interactive/20…
And here are the pictures prosecutors used in their affidavit: