It’s come out that a Capitol rioter from Michigan named Dan Herendeen was re-arrested recently for cocaine possession while out of custody ahead of his trial on riot-connected charges. Herendeen was allowed to remain out of custody following the discovery of the cocaine, but federal Judge Beryl Howell has now set up new conditions for that pre-trial release. As summarized by reporter Scott MacFarlane, Howell “is going to beef up release conditions for Herendeen. He’ll remain on pretrial release, but now must report for drug testing, attend mental health treatments, [and] give access to treatment records to court staff.”
Chief Judge Beryl Howell is going to beef up release conditions for Herendeen. He'll remain on pretrial release, but now must report for drug testing, attend mental health treatments, give access to treatment records to court staff
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 22, 2021
Herendeen’s charges in connection to the Capitol riot include disorderly conduct, entering a restricted building, and obstruction of an official proceeding — and that last charge is a felony offense that could lead to up to 20 years in prison if convicted, although much shorter sentences are possible. As summarized on MLive.com, an ‘associate of Herendeen took pictures of gear Herendeen showed them before leaving Michigan’ for Washington, D.C., in January, which included ‘body armor, a knife, a canister of what he called “ANTIFA spray,” goggles, a “combat styled belt,” and American flag face covering, according to the FBI.’ Herendeen also taped and posted a video on Facebook of himself inside of the Capitol during the January violence. He’s far from the only rioter to have essentially implicated themselves in such a way through posts on social media.
House committee seeking Jan. 6 documents urges appeals court to release Trump files quickly https://t.co/RBrrIgvhba
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 23, 2021
Meanwhile, the House committee investigating the Capitol riot is briskly continuing its own work. This week, the panel unveiled subpoenas for far-right agitators Alex Jones and Roger Stone, yet again broadening the scope of individuals under scrutiny. Previous subpoenas have targeted all sorts of people in the former president’s circles, such as his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who said on Fox that he planned to “respond” to the committee. Former top Trump adviser Steve Bannon is facing the possibility of up to two years in prison after getting indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the riot committee.
Howell will let Herendeen remain on pretrial release, crediting his lawyer with being proactive in coming up with reasonable proposed additional conditions (periodic drug testing, participating in mental health treatment). That's a wrap on that.
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) November 22, 2021
