A judge let this Jan. 6 defendant deliver his FedEx route. But FedEx says he doesn’t work there.

William Beals, who breached the U.S. Capitol and later teamed up with neo-Nazis to harass drag shows, is out on bond while facing Jan. 6-related charges.

But Raw Story has learned that Beals’ employment situation — a major reason he’s free to cross state lines pending trial — is not as he described it under oath four days ago.

During his initial appearance in federal court in Knoxville, Tenn. on Aug. 25, Beals told Magistrate Judge Jill E. McCook via a video link from the Hamilton County Detention Center in Chattanooga that he is driving a FedEx delivery route in northern Georgia. She set his conditions of release to allow him to travel between the two states while awaiting trial.

RELATED ARTICLE: Charges filed against neo-Nazi ally who harassed drag shows and attacked the U.S. Capitol

A spokesperson for FedEx told Raw Story that Beals was under evaluation by an independent contractor that provides ground delivery services for FedEx in the Chattanooga, Tenn. area, but that he ultimately was not hired and has no association with FedEx.

“He never provided services for FedEx and won’t be in the future,” a FedEx corporate official, who requested his name not be published to speak candidly, told Raw Story on Monday afternoon. “That independent contractor cut ties with him.”

The FedEx official declined to elaborate on when the independent contractor severed the relationship with Beals.

Reached by phone by Raw Story on Tuesday morning, Beals responded with an expletive-laden tirade. He declined to comment on his employment situation or testimony during his court appearance.

RELATED ARTICLE: Revealed: Feds banned this violent J6er from nuclear plants — but they still haven’t arrested him

After being sworn in for his initial appearance in Knoxville, Tenn., last week, the 52-year-old Beals told McCook that he has no mental or physical health issues, and she declared him competent to go forward with the court proceeding. McCook also found that Beals qualifies for public representation and appointed an assistant federal defender to represent him.

Beals then told McCook that he works for FedEx. He said he worked “from the Chattanooga office” in Tennessee and then drives back to Georgia “to do a FedEx route through Blairsville.”

McCook said she “would be comfortable with Mr. Beals continuing in his current employment,” and a prosecutor told the court that the government had “no issue with that travel either.”

William Beals in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021. Photo courtesy of Sedition Hunters

Beals has previously acknowledged that he has a criminal record for second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, and he has a documented history of harassing people at drag shows across Tennessee during the past nine months. Beals previously worked as a union carpenter, and in June 2021, the Tennessee Valley Authority banned him from its facilities, citing his “unauthorized access to the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

The government did not seek pre-trial detention for Beals during his appearance before McCook, although the judge noted that he has a record of prior convictions. McCook said during the hearing that she does have some concerns about Beals’ history of violence, but that his case did not rise to the level of requiring pre-trial detention, which is typically based on flight risk and danger to the community.

Rachelle Barnes, a public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, told Raw Story that her office has “no comment” after being informed that FedEx — contrary to Beals’ testimony in court on Aug. 25 — said Beals does not work for the company as an employee or contractor.

Beals waived an identity hearing in the Eastern District of Tennessee, and a prosecutor from the U.S Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of Tennessee told the court that his next court appearance will be a preliminary hearing in the District of Columbia, where his case originated, on Sept. 5.

McCook said Beals would be required to notify the federal probation office if anything changed with the FedEx delivery route Beals said he had.

McCook further admonished Beals that he should contact his lawyer or probation officer if he has any questions about the conditions of his release.

The judge told Beals that if he has to come back to court because he violated the conditions of his release, “the excuse, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know that violated my conditions,’ as you might imagine — that won’t win the day.”

“I was raised on that old-school tradition,” Beals told the judge.

“I believe you are a man of your word,” McCook told Beals.

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A pair of political analysts were stunned on Sunday after they saw President Donald Trump's response to an advertisement created by the Canadian government about his signature tariff policies.

The Canadian government's ad features video of former President Ronald Reagan arguing against tariffs in a speech, saying "American jobs and growth are at stake. In response, Trump issued a threatening statement increasing tariffs on Canadian goods and cut off trade negotiations with the country, according to reports. The Canadian government has since agreed to pull the ad.

"Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Sam Stein, managing editor of The Bulwark, and Will Saletan, a writer at the outlet, discussed Trump's response in a new episode of "Bulwark Takes" on Sunday.

"When I saw that Trump had done it, I did a double-take," Stein said. "You are literally going to raise tariffs on an entire country because you saw an ad and you didn't like it. This is just the most childish crap. I cannot believe it happened. And yet, I can believe it."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended Trump's response during an interview on Meet the Press, calling the Canadian ad "propaganda." Trump had also accused the Canadian government of trying to influence a case before the Supreme Court about his legal authority to impose tariffs.

Saletan seemed taken aback by Bessent's argument.

"It's not propaganda," Saletan said. "It's the truth, and they're simply telling Americans, 'Your own conservative president said this.'"

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Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales bashed President Donald Trump's attacks on the American press and the truth during an interview with Times Radio on Sunday.

Wales, who co-founded Wikipedia in 2001 with entrepreneur Larry Sanger, said during the interview that Trump's attacks are reminiscent of other strongmen across the globe. He added that there seems to be a "real undermining" of truth by people like Elon Musk, who have attacked Wikipedia for being a left-wing activist organization.

Wales addressed that criticism and the Trump administration's impact on free information during the interview.

"Some people, I suppose, would say free information that of itself is a liberal idea, but it's also a classical liberal idea, which the Republicans used to care a lot about, the sort of founding fathers and First Amendment and that kind of thing," Wales said. "And so it's not a lefty idea. It's fundamentally a very American idea to say we need a free press and a healthy, rich dialogue in society to be able to make better decisions."

Wales added that Trump has created an "astonishing situation" for Republicans.

"When you get a President of the United States elected who clearly contradicts himself, or denies that he said things that we can all play tapes of him saying, it's an astonishing situation," Wales said. "This is part of the reason I think trust is so important."

The largest Muslim civil rights organization in the United States is calling for the release of British journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi, who was detained by immigration officials at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday while on a US speaking tour.

“Abducting a prominent British Muslim journalist and political commentator on a speaking tour in the United States because he dared to criticize the Israeli government’s genocide is a blatant affront to free speech,” said the Washington, DC-based Council on American-Islamic Relations in a statement. Hamdi was in California to speak at CAIR’s annual gala on Saturday. On Sunday, he was heading to Florida to speak at another of the group’s events.

US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed on social media Sunday that “thanks to the work of” DHS chief Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “and the men and women of law enforcement,” Hamdi’s visa was revoked and he is in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody pending removal.

Under President Donald Trump, McLaughlin said, “those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country. It’s common sense.”

McLaughlin also linked to a social media post from Amy “Mek” Mekelburg, the founder and editor-in-chief of Rise Align Ignite Reclaim (RAIR), which CAIR identifies as “a hate organization and website that regularly publishes anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.” Both Mekelburg and far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer publicly celebrated ICE’s detention of Hamdi.

Meanwhile, CAIR said that “our attorneys and partners are working to address this injustice. We call on ICE to immediately account for and release Mr. Hamdi, whose only ’crime’ is criticizing a foreign government that committed genocide.”

“Our nation must stop abducting critics of the Israeli government at the behest of unhinged Israel First bigots,” the group added. “This is an Israel First policy, not an America First policy, and it must end.”

Throughout Trump’s second term, his administration has provided the Israeli government with diplomatic and weapons support—like his Democratic predecessor—while targeting foreign scholars critical of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip for deportation. The administration has also engaged in a broader crackdown on dissent.

Blasting Hamdi’s detention and potential deportation, Yasir Qadhi, a Pakistani American Muslim scholar and dean of the Islamic Seminary of America in Texas, said on social media Sunday: “Our government is doing this on behalf of and as Israel’s proxy, because he is a vocal critic of that genocidal regime. Our country is heading towards a fascist dictatorship in which any speech that goes against the official narrative is going to be criminalized.”

“This is happening within the context of the most hate-filled, blatant, anti-Muslim bigotry we’ve seen in our lifetimes,” he continued, pointing to the New York City mayoral race. “Disagree with Sami’s message all you want, but do so with facts and evidence, not by banning and deporting. Unless they come back to their senses, these same people who are being whipped up into such hysteria will happily and willingly become the very embodiments of evil that they claim to fight, and that inhumane evil will be directed against multiple minorities, not just Muslims.”

Hamdi is “the managing director of the International Interest, a global risk and intelligence company,” according to his LinkedIn profile. He advises governments on the geopolitical dynamics of Europe and the Middle East and North Africa region, and “has significant expertise in advising companies on commercial issues related to volatile political environments.”

Hamdi has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the prestigious SOAS University of London, and has provided commentary on Al Jazeera, BBC, TRT World, and other outlets. In response to Hamdi’s detention, Drop Site News shared his recent interview on Sky News about the ceasefire in Gaza after two years of US-backed Israel’s genocidal assault.

This past summer, Hamdi took a speaking tour in South Africa, where he spoke with The Voice of the Cape, the country’s first Muslim radio station. In an interview, he credited his father, Mohamed Hechmi Hamdi, for his political awareness.

“My father was very active in politics; he was the head of the student movement in Tunisia, head of the Islamist Tunisian Student Movement, sentenced at 20 years of age, imprisoned at 19, imprisoned at 20, had to flee Tunisia, went to Algeria and then Sudan, and then ended up in London,” Hamdi explained. “He then became a prominent voice in trying to push back against dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, and I grew up under that sort of umbrella, even if it was not something I wanted to embrace, as I wanted to be a footballer.”

“One day my father, when I was 17 or 18, put a book in my hand titled Road to Mecca by Mohammad Asad,” Hamdi continued. “The book is about an Austrian Jew who travels across the Middle East, becomes Muslim, and ends up contributing to many of the seismic events that take place in the region. He becomes an adviser in Saudi Arabia, goes and meets Omar al-Mukhtar in Libya, goes to India, meets Muhammad Iqbal, and ends up helping to write the Pakistan Constitution. I remember reading that book and saying, ‘Allah, I want to have a life like this guy.’”

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