A federal judge on Friday denied a request from a Jan. 6 Capitol rioter to be allowed to leave house arrest for a day to attend the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump this month.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said Friday that Russell Taylor of California had attempted to “thwart” the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s 2020 election win after he and scores of others disrupted the proceeding.

Taylor was invited to the Trump inauguration by former GOP congressman Chris Stewart of Utah, who is a family friend. Stewart appealed to the court on behalf of Taylor. Last month, Taylor’s attorney Dyke E. Huish told NBC News, “Mr. Taylor has some family friends who knew the congressman.”

Huish added, “It’s really a boring story. They’re just friends, and he said ‘Hey, would you like to come to the inauguration?’ and he sent off a letter, and I’ve got to ask the judge permission, and here we are.”

Judge Lamberth ruled against Taylor traveling to D.C. from California to attend the swearing-in this Friday on the grounds that it would be “inappropriate” for such a “hallowed” event given the circumstances, despite that invitation.

The judge said Taylor had taken accountability for encouraging violence at the Capitol four years ago but added, “To attend the Presidential Inauguration, which celebrates and honors the peaceful transfer of power, is an immense privilege.”

Lamberth added:

It would not be appropriate for the Court to grant permission to attend such a hallowed event to someone who carried weapons and threatened police officers in an attempt to thwart the last Inauguration, and who openly glorified ‘[i]nsurrection’ against the United States.

[…]

But Mr. Taylor’s cooperation and good conduct while on probation do not diminish the seriousness of his acts on January 6, 2021, to which he has voluntary admitted, nor do they entitle him to the permission he now seeks.

Prosecutors said of Taylor, “[i]n any angry mob, there are leaders and there are followers.” In their case against Taylor, prosecutors added:

He organized a “group of fighters” to travel to Washington D.C. to obstruct Congress’s certification of the 2020 Presidential Election. He called on his followers to “[m]arch into the Capitol Jan 6.” And Taylor led not just by words, but by deeds. On January 6, Taylor, while wearing an exposed knife on top of a bullet proof chest plate and carrying bear spray, a hatchet, and other weapons in his backpack, led a mob that overran a police line on the inaugural stage and stormed the Capitol.

Taylor would ultimately plead guilty to a charge of obstructing an official proceeding. He was sentenced last year to six months of home detention.

The post Judge Denies Jan. 6 Rioter’s Plea to Attend Trump Inauguration – Not ‘Appropriate’ After Attempt to ‘Thwart’ Last One first appeared on Mediaite.

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