Court won’t suppress Capitol riot suspect Doug Jensen’s FBI interview
The Des Moines man who told federal agents he was “all about a revolution” in the wake of the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol won’t be able to keep those words away from the jury.
Doug Jensen is set to go on trial later this month on multiple charges related to the Jan. 6 attack. He attained national notoriety after a video clip went viral, showing him wearing a QAnon shirt and pursuing a U.S. Capitol police officer up a flight of stairs inside the building.
Key to the government’s case, in addition to that video and others from bystanders and Jensen’s own phone, will be the nearly four-hour interview he gave to FBI agents at the Des Moines police station on Jan. 8, 2021. In it, Jensen explained his belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory, which held that national Democrats were conducting a secret child sex trafficking ring, and explained his motivation for traveling to Washington, D.C., and participating in the storming of the Capitol.
In March, Jensen filed a motion to block prosecutors from using against him any of that interview, or evidence found in a subsequent search of his phone. His defense attorney argued that Jensen — who told police he had walked to the station from his southside home without being summoned — had effectively been taken into custody, and should have been read his Miranda rights. He also argued that Jensen’s consent for the search of his phone was less than voluntary due to his sleep-deprived state and the lengthy questioning.
On Wednesday, with the trial date of Sept. 19 fast approaching, Judge Timothy Kelly rejected Jensen’s request. Kelly noted that investigators repeatedly told Jensen his participation in the interview was voluntary, allowed him to take smoke breaks, and even gave him a ride home after they finished. He was not arrested until the following day.
“In light of the totality of the circumstances, none of these facts suggest that a reasonable person in the defendant’s shoes would not have felt free to terminate the interview,” Kelly said.
Far from badgering Jensen for cooperation, Kelly said, video from the interview shows that FBI agents barely had to ask any questions, and that it was Jensen who drove the conversation, “going on at length about his political views generally and his actions and intentions on Jan. 6 specifically.”
The ruling means that prosecutors will be able to present portions of the interview, in video or transcript form, at Jensen’s trial, which will be held in Washington, D.C., after he tried unsuccessfully in a previous hearing to get it moved to Iowa. The opposing attorneys told Kelly that there remain a few evidentiary disputes about other videos, which the judge said he will rule on before the trial begins.
For subscribers:Who is Doug Jensen? Tracing a QAnon believer’s path to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot
Jensen is among eight Iowans, and among nearly 900 people around the country, to face charges related to the Jan. 6 attack, according to a USA Today tally, and more than 370 have pleaded guilty. Of the at least 18 who have taken their cases to trial, all but one have been convicted.
Kelly acknowledged Wednesday that Jensen’s high profile in the days after the riot will require special care at trial. The court will gather a pool of 70 potential jurors, and Kelly suggested each be asked not just if they know or recognize Jensen, but also the Capitol police officer he pursued, and whether they were aware of the video showing the confrontation on the staircase.
“It is one of the more memorable pieces of video or scenes from Jan. 6,” he said. “If someone says yes … it’s not that they can’t be jurors, but I think it will necessitate some further follow-up.”
Jensen is slated to be the first Iowa defendant in the riot to go to trial. Daryl Johnson of St. Ansgar was sentenced in June to 30 days in prison after pleading guilty to felony civil disorder. Several others also have entered guilty pleas, and one, Kenneth Rader of Sioux City, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
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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