Accused Capitol rioter Brandon Fellows was warned repeatedly by a federal judge not to try to represent himself in court on Tuesday because of the possibility that he would open himself up to perjury charges.
Fellows ignored the admonition. Now he's facing more charges than when the day began.
In a story headlined, "Capitol rioter admits to two new felonies while representing himself in bond hearing," Washington TV station WUSA9 detailed Fellows's bad day in court:
"Most people do not do this," U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden told Fellows. "Obviously your attorney has discouraged this. I do not think this is a good idea… but I'm going to allow you to take the stand, if you wish." "Fellows is an Albany, New York, resident under indictment on a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In charging documents, prosecutors say Fellows entered the Capitol through a broken window and wound up smoking marijuana in Sen. Jeff Merkley's (D-OR) office.
"Fellows was initially granted pretrial release, but was ordered back into custody in June after repeated violations, including missing a court-ordered mental health evaluation and allegedly calling a probation officer's mother. The Justice Department also said when a clerk of the court attempted to contact Fellows about another violation – allegations that he was harassing a former girlfriend – it was discovered he had apparently put the number for the judge's wife's office instead of his own.
"Last month, Fellows asked McFadden to allow him to represent himself pro se in his case – saying he had spent the previous two weeks in the D.C. Jail's law library and determined that was what he wanted. Despite warning him, repeatedly, of the possible consequences of going it alone with no formal law training, McFadden ultimately granted Fellows' request."
What ensued, according to the report was two hours of rambling by Fellows "across a difficult-to-follow litany of complaints about his incarceration, stopping to touch on subjects as widely varied as the Taliban, Guantanamo Bay, a woman who'd left her child in a dumpster and a "constitutional lawyer" who had allegedly advised him to wrap his cell phone in tin foil to avoid capture."
It ended like this:
"You are charged with a federal felony," McFadden said. "This is not a community college where you get pats on the back." "You've admitted to incredible lapses of judgment here on the stand, not least of which was seeking to disqualify a New York state judge," the judge continued. "You've admitted to obstruction of justice in that case, and you've admitted to what was probably obstruction in this case in trying to have me disqualified, and only Ms. Halverson's advice stopped you from doing so. You've engaged in a pattern of behaviors that shows contempt for the criminal justice system, and I just have no confidence that you will follow my orders if I release you."
"McFadden then denied Fellows' request to reopen his detention status and ordered him back into the custody of the D.C. Jail."
You can read more about the case here and here and here.
In other news Tuesday, a Pro-Trump candidate suggested taking "all the boats of of the water" to lower sea levels. WATCH:
Pro-Trump candidate suggests taking 'all the boats out of the water' to lower sea levelsyoutu.be
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (C-SPAN)
