U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday denied a request to move the trial of members of the Proud Boys accused of participating in the attacks of Jan. 6, 2021.
During a court hearing in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, defense attorney Carmen Hernandez argued in favor of a change of venue motion. Hernandez was representing Proud Boys member Zachary Rehl.
"We're getting smacked with the media attention out of Jan.6 committee right as we're starting trial...This case is a perfect storm of those prejudicial aspects," Hernandez said. "I have never, never experienced the level of prejudice and ill-will toward a set of defendants... It's completely out of whack with what we consider due process and fair trial rights...This is worse than anything I have ever experienced."
The hearing was chronicled on Twitter by Politico's Josh Gerstein.
"I am not a Kraken lawyer," Hernandez insisted to Kelly, referencing Sidney Powell's so-called "Kraken" lawsuits that promised to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate then-President Donald Trump.
But prosecutor Erik Kenerson told Kelly that the objections had been covered during jury selection.
"I'm going to deny the motion," Kelly ruled. "Most of the publicity we've been talking about in this case has been of the national variety."
