Prosecutors fear this Jan. 6 conspiracy theorist will turn his trial 'into a circus'

In late April, far-right conspiracy theorist Alan Hostetter — who formerly served as police chief of La Habra, California but now works as a yoga instructor — pleaded "not guilty" to federal conspiracy charges he is facing in connection with the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors don't believe that Hostetter actually entered the U.S. Capitol Building that day, but allege that he was part of the overall conspiracy to prevent Congress from certifying now-President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

Russell Taylor, one of Hostetter's co-defendants in the case, has pled guilty and is looking at four to seven years in federal prison. The other co-defendants, all Southern California residents, are alleged militia members Felipe Antonio Martinez, Erik Scott Warner, Ronald Mele and Derek Kinnison.

While Taylor has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, Hostetter maintains that he did nothing wrong on January 6, 2021 and plans to act as his own attorney in court. Hostetter has been promoting conspiracy theories in his motions. And federal prosecutors, according to the Orange County Register, fear that Hostetter will "make the trial into a circus" and create "the type of sideshow the United States is seeking to prevent."

Hostetter, the Register reports, has waived his right to a trial by jury but plans to plead his case in front of a federal judge.

Prosecutors said of Hostetter, "It is a disorganized and purposeless journey through the history of 20th- and 21st-Century conspiracy theories." A federal judge told Hostetter, "I strongly urge you not to try to represent yourself" in court, but the former La Habra police chief insists on doing it anyway.

La Habra is in northern Orange County south of Los Angeles. These days, California is heavily Democratic, but during the 1970s and 1980s, it was still a red state. And Orange County was known for being a bastion of conservative GOP politics.

Hostetter became La Habra police chief in 2009, but he retired after less than a year because of spinal problems.