D.C. Judge orders East Naples man with Proud Boys ties to remain jailed through trial – Naples Daily News

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Proud Boy Christopher Worrell will be taken to Washington, D.C., and remain in custody until his trial, a judge ruledin response to charges against himlinked to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that the evidence against Worrell, 49, of East Naples,met the government criteria for denying bond. She said her decision included Worrelldispersing pepper spray gel on officers, his level of preparation, his history of intimidating and threatening behavior and his refusal to comply with FBI orders.

"The weight of evidence is strong here and favors detention," she said.

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Christopher Worrell of East Naples at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a photo included in an FBI statement of facts a federal magistrate signed March 10, 2021.(Photo: Photo courtesy of the FBI)

Howell ordered Worrell transferred from Tampa to a Washington, D.C., holding facility until trial. His next court appointment is at 10 a.m. April 8, unless he is indicted before that, she said.

John Pierce, former attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse, is representing Worrell. Rittenhouse was charged after he fatally shot two men with an AR-15-style rifle on Aug. 25, the third night of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Pierce cited riots around the country, including the one in Wisconsin,as reason why Worrell was wearing a tactical vest, carried pepper spray gel and had an ear piece to communicate with people the government identified as other Proud Boys.

The prosecution had said the evidence shows that Worell and other Proud Boys listened to the president before walking to the Capitol.

The judge didn't buy Worrell's reasoning for his preparation.

"We have marches all the time in Washington, D.C.," she said. "This is not a march. This is a mob of assault on the Capitol,not following directions of police and breaking police lines. This was not a protest march. And if the defendant thoughtthat 's what he was doing and not understanding why hes sitting there, that gives me pause."

FBI agents arrested Worrell on March 12, at the home he shares with his girlfriend, Trish Priller, an executive assistant for the Naples Daily News. Worrell was taken to Tampa, where he's spent the last week, held without bond.

Prosecutors revealed Friday that Worrell was not at his home during the raid, saying he was 3 hours away camping. He was immediately contacted and instructed to turn himself in at the nearest FBI office.

They said Worrell instead told them that he would meet them at his home. The lawyers said he was emotional, they didn't know what he planned or where he was specifically and he had access to a cell phone for at least two hours past what an arrested person would normally have.

"He had three hours to think on his drive," prosecutors said.

Howell later cited the exchange and a 2009 arrest for impersonating an officer as a reason to deny Worrell bail. Court documents indicate he saw a woman drive through a yellow light, flashed a badge at her, and yelled at her. She called police, who found a badge, guns, handcuffs and a heavy duty flashlight in his front seat. He is not an officer.

Howell said that history, coupled with the FBI arrest, is a significant "backdrop" to imposing his own authority to the point of breaking the law."

She also questioned both attorneys about the significance of Worrell, pictured with Proud Boys, flashing an "OK" sign,which has gained ground as a White Power symbol. Two photos show Worrell with his thumb and index finger making the shape of an "O" or a "P" and three fingers forming a "W", standing for White Power.

As of Feb. 3, at least a half dozen people charged for their involvement in the Capitol riots were linked to the Proud Boys,an extremist group with ties to white nationalism.

White Boys adamantly deny any connection to the racist 'alt-right.'

Worrell's statement to the FBI in late January, included "the Proud Boys were not a racist white supremacist group like the media tries to portray."

Howell said because Worrell used the hand sign, she wasn't convinced of his statement.

Authorities investigating the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol say two extremist groups that traveled to Washington along with thousands of other Trump supporters weren't whipped into an impulsive frenzy by President Donald Trump. (March 10) AP Domestic

Previously: Prosecution: East Naples man sprayed pepper spray toward law enforcement officers at Capitol riot

More: Naples man among those arrested in Washington D.C. after violent Capitol siege

Howell questioned the government lawyers extensively on whether the pepper spray gel could be considered a dangerous weapon.

The prosecuting attorney explained the gel is "67 times more powerful than hot sauce," that the brand used was "double the average strength of other pepper sprays" and had better stopping power.

While Pierce told Howell that Worrell didn't intentionally spray officers, telling him that he was spraying another person in the mob who attacked older women, she pointed out that photos of the incident that Capitol police offers were in the line of the spray; and the defense did not provide anything different.She questioned why he wouldn't let police handle the incident and said it appeared that the police were his target.

By spraying the gel, a half-dozen officers broke the line to seek water to wash their eyes. That police line was joining another line closer to the building, where the mob broke through and into the Capitol.

The FBI received a tip that Worrellparticipated in the riots on Jan. 6 from someone who knows him, according to the prosecution.

While he was being arrested, Worrell told law enforcement that he knew the tipster, and he also said he knew the Twitter user who posted pictures of him at the capital.

Howell said that when Worrell told agents that when he caught up to the Twitter user,the FBI would be coming for him again."

"That's bold intimations of threats and thatraises a witness intimidation concern," Howell said, adding it figured into her decision to not grant bond..

As far as the government is aware, Worrell did not enter the U.S. Capitol building.

"Yes, he was definitely on the grounds, he felt that was his right," Pierce said. "But he loves his country, he was absolutely adamant that neither him norany of the friends that he was with enter any federal building."

The judge wasnot swayed.

"He understands my skepticism about him saying he was emphatically not going into Capitol building because he went into a restricted area, he was not following police commands and, as part of this crowd, mob, he was trying to stopthewhole reason they were there was to stop the count of electoral college votes. Why was he even there then?"

Worrell faces fivecharges connected to the Jan. 6 riot, according to the latest document filed by the prosecution:

Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority while carrying a dangerous weapon

Knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds while a dangerous weapon

Knowingly engaging in an act of physical violence in any restricted building or grounds while a dangerous weapon

Violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds

Obstruction of Justice/Congress

Naples Daily News reporter Jake Allen contributed to this report.

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D.C. Judge orders East Naples man with Proud Boys ties to remain jailed through trial - Naples Daily News