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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NEW: One of the worst Jan. 6 rioters, David Dempsey, hit with 20 years in federal prison by a Reagan-appointed federal judge who has spoken out about the “preposterous” and dangerous rhetoric some Republicans have used in an attempt to “rewrite history" on Jan. 6.
Dempsey appeared to flash an “OK” sign as he was led out of court, several witnesses observed. Other rioters have yelled “Trump won!” as they were led out of court.
DOJ inspector general concludes, as folks who were paying attention four plus years ago did contemporaneously, that having Bureau of Prisons guards man civilian protests was a bad idea.
"Allowing federal law enforcement to operate with anonymity all but eliminates accountability when force is inevitably used against demonstrators." huffpost.com/entry/william-…
"A senior Justice Department official credited Barr with the idea of bringing in federal prison corrections officers, calling it an example of Barr’s 'outside the box' thinking." huffpost.com/entry/william-…
“If [we] don’t have a charge, we don’t say anything about an investigation; we just don’t do that.”
From the OIG report on Willam Barr and the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney who helped fuel the ex-president's bogus voter fraud narrative back in 2020.
He announced his resignation just before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which was fueled by Trump's election lies. huffpost.com/entry/david-fr…
"Freed’s unusual conduct came under intense scrutiny from Justice Department veterans who noted it was “wildly improper” for a federal prosecutor to be making public declarations about investigations that could be used as a political cudgel and help undermine confidence in the electoral process." huffpost.com/entry/david-fr…
DOJ inspector general's report on the Roger Stone sentencing recommendation (remember that?) is now out. It calls former interim U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea's leadership "ineffectual" and DOJ's handling of the Stone sentencing "highly unusual." Bill Barr refused to cooperate.
"we found that Barr had articulated his position about the sentencing recommendation both before and shortly after the first sentencing memorandum was filed, and before the President’s tweets." oig.justice.gov/sites/default/…
"Barr was in the middle of listening to what others thought about the idea of a second filing when someone mentioned the tweets, and then 'the air almost went out of the room.'"
"there really is no centralized role in this for Defense or the Federal government components. This sits squarely in MPD's realm. I'm trying to tamp this down with the Deputy like I have the last couple of protests but this one may be different..."
From the latest batch of FBI emails on Jan. 6:
"It's her very first day in this position. He didn't tell her what the document was, or who wrote it, unfortunately and then went back to the 7th floor for more meetings..."