Douglas Jensen, an Iowa resident who was arrested after getting caught on camera chasing Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman during the rioting at the Capitol on January 6, is now facing a new federal weapons charge in addition to his previous six charges. According to federal authorities, Jensen had a knife during the rioting. Jensen was the man at the front of a mob that harassed Officer Goodman on January 6. At the time, although he has not spoken publicly about the incident, Goodman appears to have purposefully — and successfully — led the rioters away from the Senate chamber while Senators were still inside.
At present, Jensen is in federal detention in Washington, D.C., and a hearing on whether to keep him in detention is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. Federal authorities are hoping to get Jensen kept in detention ahead of his trial in light of details like his possession of a knife during the rioting. Recently, federal Judge Beryl Howell ordered the pretrial detention of Arkansas resident Richard Barnett, who was photographed with his foot up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the rioting and took a piece of mail from her office as some kind of demented souvenir. Howell’s recent ruling means “that Barnett will stay behind bars for months or longer,” as explained by POLITICO.
A judge will hear arguments on 2/23 on the govt's motion to keep Jensen in pretrial detention (an Iowa judge had approved release) — the govt noted that Jensen was allegedly carrying a knife in docs arguing for detention, so the new indictment now reflects that pic.twitter.com/h34wYisgfo
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 16, 2021
During Barnett’s recent detention hearing, Howell excoriated those who participated in the rioting, commenting as follows:
‘What happened on that day in the U.S. Capitol was criminal activity that is destined to go down in the history books of our country… This was not a peaceful protest. We’re still living here in Washington, D.C., with the consequences of the violence in which this defendant is accused to have participated.’
A National Guard deployment to Washington, D.C., that went out in the wake of the rioting is projected to last through at least March. After the January 6 rioting unfolded, federal authorities majorly increased security for the subsequent inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, with over 20,000 active National Guard troops. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the rioting, Goodman has received praise and appreciation for his actions against the rioters, and he recently received the Congressional Gold Medal, which is the top honor that Congress can bestow, in line with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the executive branch.
