Top inset: U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia). Bottom inset and background: William Alexander Pope (U.S. Attorney’s Office).
A Barack Obama-appointed federal judge has agreed to delay the trial for a Jan. 6 defendant as Donald Trump, who has vowed to pardon some of the rioters, is set to take office in January.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras agreed on Thursday to delay William Alexander Pope‘s trial until late February, online court records show. Contreras said that he made the decision in the interest of conserving resources and not tying up jurors for the “real possibility” that the case on charges of civil disorder, trespassing, disorderly conduct and picketing at the Capitol, might go away, Politico reported.
Pope, a one-time city council candidate in Topeka, Kansas, argued for the delay last week, saying in court papers that “wielding extreme government force can lead to a dangerous cycle of escalating retribution as control of the government continues changing hands.”
The government pushed back, asking the judge to keep the original December trial date intact.
But Pope fired back at prosecutors on Wednesday, saying, “the government’s continued prosecution of me is also a continued prosecution of President Trump’s elected mandate, which is a prosecution of the will of the people. The government should cease their attack on democracy immediately!”
“As this Court knows, and as the government has conceded, I was entirely peaceful on January 6, and I continue to advocate for peace and unity in America,” he added. “However, the government’s foolish continued prosecution of these cases has become malicious and not in the interests of peace or unity. It would be far wiser to pause all January 6 cases to allow for a two month cooling off period before the transfer of power takes place. De-escalation has the potential to avert reciprocal actions, but the continued pursuit of malicious prosecutions invites a severe response by the incoming administration.”
Despite his request for “de-escalation,” Pope himself appeared to escalate the rhetoric, signaling an apparent willingness to fight ferociously on his own behalf.
“While I’m sure the Court was looking forward to the opportunity to spend several weeks getting to know me better in person, doing so comes at the opportunity cost of other things,” he added. “Like time spent in prison, none of us will ever get these weeks back. But if the Court decides this show must go on, I will arrive to the circus as a lion ready to roar at the government’s clowns!”
In another Jan. 6 case on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, put off a trial date until April for three Jan. 6 defendants charged with misdemeanors for trespassing in the Capitol, Politico reported.
“As soon as the prosecutor asked for a trial date, Judge Nichols confronted her on whether she could assure the court that this matter would be moving forward to trial once the new administration takes office,” said Marina Medvin, an attorney for two of the defendants in Nichols’ courtroom, according to Politico. “Of course, the prosecutor could make no such assurances.”
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