A U.S. judge said there is a risk that Donald Trump’s supporters could still carry out attacks similar to the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, noting the former president’s “near-daily fulminations” about his election loss have not subsided.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson made the remark in a written decision on Wednesday explaining why she would continue to jail Cleveland Meredith Jr. while he awaits trial on charges that he texted about “putting a bullet” in U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s head.
“The steady drumbeat that inspired defendant (Meredith) to take up arms has not faded away; six months later, the canard that the election was stolen is being repeated daily on major news outlets and from the corridors of power in state and federal government, not to mention in the near-daily fulminations of the former President,” Jackson said in her partially redacted ruling.
Jackson noted that the charges against Meredith were particularly serious.
“Not only did defendant threaten to wreak mayhem in general in the nation’s capital, he used graphic and misogynistic language to threaten to kill particular public figures in the District in specific and violent ways,” Jackson said.