Federal prosecutors are arguing for pretrial detention in the case of Capitol rioter and North Carolina resident Matthew Beddingfield, who was out on bail after getting charged with first-degree attempted murder when he participated in the storming of the Capitol. Beddingfield, who is 21, was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury (among other things) — an offense that comes with a prison sentence of up to 20 years, if found guilty. While at the Capitol, he used a flagpole against officers both outside and inside the building. Now, federal prosecutors have “submitted new evidence alleging that Beddingfield praised Hitler and engaged in racist harassment on social media” according to an NBC report, connecting the troubling underlying mindsets to Beddingfield’s apparent willingness to engage in violence.
news: A tense confrontation between the House select committee and Kimberly Guilfoyle unfolded privately on Friday morning, with Guilfoyle and her lawyers abruptly ending her conversation with the committee over concerns about its ground rules, according to 4 people familiar..
— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 25, 2022
Prosecutors said that they uncovered “highly offensive and deeply troubling hate symbols and hate speech” on Beddingfield’s personal phone, although he’d already been observed to make an apparent Nazi gesture outside of the Capitol. As prosecutors put it, “Beddingfield appears to harbor deep resentment towards the Black, Hispanic, Native American, and LGBTQ+ communities while glorifying white supremacist figures, beliefs, language, and ideologies… [In certain messages,] Beddingfield unabashedly expresses his wish that members of those groups meet a violent end and in others he expresses a desire to inflict said violence or death on the same.” In January of this year, for instance, Beddingfield said that he’d “like to reclaim America and it is fine if a few of my peoples enemies are ‘hurt’ in the process.” Last month, he added that the “only tragedy that happened was that Hitler didn’t finish the job.” These are the sorts of people who Trump drew out of the metaphorical woodwork, leaving them feeling empowered to the point of participating in the Capitol violence.
NEW: House Jan 6 Select Committee investigation expands … again
New subpoenas are issued for six Trump allies who pushed claims of election fraud, including Christina Bobb who was “present in the war room of Rudy Giuliani”, per committee
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) March 1, 2022
Thousands of rounds of ammunition were also recovered by federal authorities from Beddingfield’s closet, adding to the impression that he could pose a danger to the community if released. As prosecutors summarily put it, it “is significant that Beddingfield took the time to make what is likely a Nazi gesture towards the Capitol after violently assaulting and confronting law enforcement… There is a connection in Beddingfield’s white supremacist views and the physical manifestations thereof and his violent acts.” When Trump talks about his willingness to pardon rioters in the event that he wins the presidency again, these are the people whose offenses he’s apparently largely if not entirely willing to simply gloss over for his political purposes. Hundreds of those who’ve been charged in connection to the riot have been specifically alleged to have assaulted or impeded police in some form, and arrests are continuing — Beddingfield’s arrest took place last month, and another arrest was announced by the Justice Department just this past Tuesday.
In new letter seeking leniency in his US Capitol riot case, self-proclaimed Trump supporter Sam Fox of Pittsburgh says this…… about Trump on Jan 6:
"For the first time since I watched him dance on Saturday Night Live to Drake, I wondered if this man had truly lost his mind"
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) February 28, 2022
