Prosecutors are seeking the pre-trial jailing of Capitol rioter Joshua Pruitt, who is a member of the far-right group known as the Proud Boys, over issues including numerous, documented probation violations on his part while facing serious federal criminal charges connected to his participation in the storming of the Capitol. Pruitt’s riot-tied charges include civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding — both of which are felonies and the latter of which comes with a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, if convicted, although much shorter sentences are certainly possible. While at the Capitol, Pruitt (among other things) hurled a sign across the building’s atrium.
Guardian US: Jan. 6 committee is examining whether Trump obstructed official proceeding — but now also whether he oversaw a criminal conspiracy connecting “political elements” of White House plan with violence
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) January 8, 2022
As it turns out, Pruitt “was already on probation in both Maryland and Georgia – and in fact was wearing a court-ordered GPS monitor – when he breached the Capitol,” as explained by a D.C.-area CBS affiliate. After getting caught in connection to his participation in the Capitol violence, where he also participated in confrontations with police officers, Pruitt was placed under requirements including a strict curfew… which he has violated “multiple” times, according to prosecutors.
Until we get a full accounting for the insurrection, we will continue to call out corporations for backing insurrectionist members of Congress and take action against Trump, his officials and members of Congress who allowed it to happen in the first place.
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) January 8, 2022
Pruitt was sentenced in November of last year for two violations of civil protection orders in Washington, D.C., where he used to live. The individual that Pruitt victimized in that situation appears to be a former girlfriend, who Pruitt repeatedly harassed and threatened; certain video clips that she received from Pruitt “depict Pruitt playing with a knife or standing outside her apartment building,” the Department of Justice explains. Pruitt’s prior criminal history includes over a dozen and a half arrests, in addition to eight convictions. Prosecutors wrote as follows to federal Judge Timothy Kelly:
‘The curfew violations here are the last straw… Pruitt violated both probation and pretrial release conditions the moment he set foot in the Capitol… Breaching the Capitol while being on GPS monitoring displayed a brazen disregard for the rule of law. When he was arrested that night, [Pruitt] was not honest with police: he told them he had sought to de-escalate. Throwing furniture is not de-escalating. From January 6, then, there were strong indications that Pruitt was not amenable to supervision, based on his criminal history and his conduct that day. There were also indications of danger, as seen in the violent images Pruitt posted and his confrontations with law enforcement and destruction of property on January 6… He appears unable to refrain from threatening others and is unrepentant regarding his actions on January 6.’
Rep. Jamie Raskin tells CNN that former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham "named a lot of names I had not heard before" to the Jan. 6 Committee during her interview and "identified some lines of inquiry that had never occurred to me."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 7, 2022
Pruitt is among hundreds and hundreds of Trump supporters who have been criminally charged by federal authorities for their parts in the violence at the Capitol last January — something that Trump himself continues to try and explain away. Trump had originally announced a press conference for the one-year anniversary of the Capitol attack this past Thursday, where he’d have undoubtedly spread his familiar mix of lies about the election and attempted defenses for violence, but he cancelled it.
The reason Trump is not in office today is because he didn’t receive enough votes to win the election.
The people said so. The states said so. The courts said so. The facts said so.
The Big Lie is poisoning our democracy. We will act to protect our democracy and voting rights.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 7, 2022
