Judge asks about QAnon beliefs, threatening conduct at U.S. Capitol in considering pretrial release for Jan. 6 suspect Doug Jensen
The judge handling the case of Capitol Riot suspect Doug Jensen appeared willing to consider Jensen’s request to be released from custody Thursday, but also skeptical that the Des Moines man has truly abandoned the belief in the QAnon conspiracy that led him to participate in the Jan. 6 attack in Washington, D.C.
Judge Timothy Kelly did not immediately rule on Jensen’s motion to be released with conditions. A follow-up hearing has been scheduled for July 27, but Kelly said he expects to issue a decision before then.
On Thursday, Kelly pressed Jensen’s attorney, Christopher Davis, for reasons why he should credit Jensen’s claim in court filings that he now recognizes he “bought into a pack of lies” in believing in QAnon, which predicted widespread arrests and the reversal of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Davis said the failure of the anonymous Q’s many predictions led to Jensen changing his mind, but Kelly appeared unconvinced.
“The nature of a conspiracy theory, as I understand it, is folks can adapt to changing circumstances,” he said, adding, “The theory gets adapted to what has occurred or not occurred.”
► Previously:Iowan Doug Jensen hit with weapons charge in Capitol riot indictment
For prosecutor Hava Mirell, Kelly had questions about the government’s claim that Jensen was a “leader” and “threatened” law enforcement during the attack. Davis has argued Jensen was merely at the Capitol to be an observer.
“I do think his conduct is somewhere in between, in that it wasn’t as clearly assault as what other folks have been charged with, but I think there’s some distance between being an observer and conducting himself the way that he did,” Kelly said.
Prosecutors: Jensen ‘cannot be trusted to abide’ by court conditions
Jensen, 41, is one of at least seven Iowans accused of taking part in the attack, and achieved instant notoriety due to widely-shared images of him confronting law enforcement officers inside the Capitol building. He was arrested Jan. 8, two days after the riot, and a grand jury approved the first of several indictments against him on Jan. 11.
A judge in Des Moines initially ruled that he could be released pending trial, but Kelly overruled that decision, and Jensen has been in custody since then. His renewed motion to be released on June 7 came after a hearing at which prosecutors indicated they were in ongoing plea negotiations, but that the question of pretrial release had proved to be the “main sticking point.”
In their written motion, Jensen and Davis claimed that he has rejected his former beliefs in the QAnon conspiracy theory and denied leading anyone else during the attack or committing any acts of violence.
Prosecutors see it differently. Their response, filed June 17, makes clear their view that whether Jensen remains a QAnon adherent or not, he cannot be trusted to refrain from further violence.
“If, at age 41, Jensen does not have good enough judgment to know not to violently break into the Capitol and menacingly chase a law enforcement officer under any circumstances, then he cannot be trusted to abide by any release conditions that this Court could impose,” prosecutors wrote.
Mirell said Thursday that Jensen had been not just an adherent, but a “preacher” of QAnon who urged his friends and associates to “trust in Q.”
“This type of devotion doesn’t just go away because the defendant has been in prison for a few months,” she said.
‘Storm the White House, that’s what we do’
The prosecution brief, which Davis derided as “sprinkled with innuendos and unproven facts,” also added new details about Jensen’s activities during the riot. According to prosecutors, Jensen drove 16 hours non-stop after working a full construction shift the day before in order to reach Washington, D.C., in time for the rally.
During the attack on the Capitol, having not slept in more than a day, new images show Jensen scaling one of the retaining walls outside the Capitol and, from the top, gesturing to other attendees, allegedly shouting to them to “Storm the White House, that’s what we do,” apparently confusing the Capitol complex with the White House.
Davis said Thursday that Jensen was speaking into his phone, not to anyone else present.
“Jensen has shown that he is unable to exercise independent judgment, and that he can be easily manipulated into committing horrific acts,” prosecutors wrote. “Allowing defendant to be released pending trial, even under rigorous release conditions, creates an unacceptable risk of danger to the community.”
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Prosecutors also argue that court rules bar Jensen from revisiting bond at this late date. Kelly did not rule on that argument either, but noted Jensen and his attorney had reserved the right at the start of the case to argue detention at a later time, and told Davis that “I’m sympathetic to your argument that, one way or another, you should have a bite at the apple here.”
Under federal law, Kelly must decide if any conditions can be imposed that will ensure Jensen returns to future court hearings and won’t re-offend. Davis said Thursday that the Jan. 6 riot “was ridiculous, it was disturbing, it shouldn’t have happened,” but that keeping Jensen locked up pretrial is punitive rather than a legitimate safety measure.
“He’s not a danger,” Davis said. “There’s nothing to indicate this man is going to run around Des Moines, Iowa, on his way to work and lead violent mobs to attack people.”
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
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