InfoWars host Owen Shroyer lost his bid to have charges dismissed against him for his alleged role on Jan. 6.
Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed to the bench by Donald Trump, said there was "little or any evidence here suggesting vindictiveness" by prosecutors.
In August, Shroyer announced on-air that there was a warrant for his arrest. He was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds and violent entry and disorderly conduct on capitol grounds.
READ: Trump held 'secret meetings' before Jan. 6 in White House residence
As prosecutors noted in the criminal complaint's statements of facts, Shroyer's case is unique as he was under a non-prosecution agreement after being kicked out of a House Judiciary Committee hearing in 2019 while shouting, "Donald Trump is innocent."
Buzzfeed News legal reporter Zoe Tillman reported from the hearing, here is the thread she posted to Twitter:
Govt's sentencing memo: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21179855/1-13-22-us-sentencing-memo-anthony-scirica.pdf\u00a0\u2026\n\n(Scirica's memo isn't on the public docket)— Zoe Tillman (@Zoe Tillman) 1642691524
Brain blip this morning, I'm jumping off this sentencing for a bit for the hearing in Owen Shroyer's Jan. 6 case, thanks to @emptywheel for the reminder that's happeninghttps://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1484182004916580363\u00a0\u2026— Zoe Tillman (@Zoe Tillman) 1642691669
Kelly says Shroyer falls short of showing the govt omitted info (body cam footage from the Capitol that Shroyer claims shows him trying to deescalate, police not turning them back) because feds did provide the magistrate judge with a link to the full, publicly available video— Zoe Tillman (@Zoe Tillman) 1642692058
Kelly says there's "no doubt" in his mind that there was probable cause to green light the arrest warrant for Owen Shroyer \u2014 he's charged with illegally being in a restricted area outside the Capitol— Zoe Tillman (@Zoe Tillman) 1642692487
Kelly explains that Shroyer's vindictive prosecution argument falls short as well \u2014\u00a0regardless of whether he was engaged in 1A-protected activity at times, the govt is allowed to include his speech activity in the course of making out the elements of criminal activity— Zoe Tillman (@Zoe Tillman) 1642693061
AUSA says the govt is open to plea discussions but didn't indicate that they'd made any offer so far. Shroyer's DC Superior Court case re: the deferred prosecution agreement that was in place before Jan. 6 is basically on hold until his federal case resolves, she also explains— Zoe Tillman (@Zoe Tillman) 1642693374
Pattis says they may also challenge the prosecution on other 1A grounds, citing the case of a Peter Santilli, a conservative radio host who was charged in connection with the Bundy stand-off and later had charges dropped, see:https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/09/feds_dismiss_federal_conspirac.html\u00a0\u2026— Zoe Tillman (@Zoe Tillman) 1642693965
Basically, Pattis is good with pushing out deadlines in Shroyer's case, and also notes to the judge that he just tested positive for covid this morning so he's going to try to take it easy this week.
Next court date is March 8
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 20, 2022
In the charging documents, prosecutors noted Shroyer's image appeared at the end of a promo ad hyping the event.
