A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the release of a Tennessee man accused of storming the U.S. Capitol last month armed with zip ties.
In a blistering opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said Nashville resident Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, and his mother, Woodstock, Georgia, nurse Leslie Marie Eisenhart, 56, both pose "clear danger to the republic" in ways that would've troubled George Washington.
In widely circulated photographs, Munchel was seen inside the Senate chamber with zip ties and a holstered Taser. He was among two men dubbed "zip tie guy" due to the images. Eisenhart was next to him in some of the footage.
By joining pro-Trump mobs and attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a bid to overturn November's election won by President Joe Biden, the suspects struck at the heart of American democracy, the judge said.
Lamberth quoted Washington's famed 1796 farewell address when the nation's first president said: "The very idea of the power of and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government."
"Indeed, few offenses are more threatening to our way of life," the judge wrote of charges against the suspects.
Munchel, arrested on Jan. 10, and Eisenhart, taken into custody on Jan. 16, have been charged with conspiracy, entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct during the deadly riot.
A magistrate judge had earlier granted their release, but stayed the order to allow federal prosecutors to appeal.
Lamberth cited interviews Munchel and Eisenhart both gave to the Times of London, when they compared Jan. 6 to the American Revolution of 1776, as proof they're allegedly prone violence to achieve political objectives.
"By word and deed, Munchel has supported the violent overthrow of the United States government. He poses a clear danger to the republic," Lamberth wrote. "By word and deed, Eisenhart has supported the violent overthrow of the United States government. As a self-avowed, would-be martyr, she poses a clear danger to our republic."
Both will remain jailed until trial, the judgeruled.
Attorneys for the suspects could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
Bottlerocket33 on February 18th, 2021 at 20:47 UTC »
Weird question given the gravity of the situation, but why would he be climbing over the seat instead of just walking up the aisles?
Da5idG on February 18th, 2021 at 20:30 UTC »
Prosecutors quoted from interviews he and his mother made to "The Times of London" (or 'The Times' as we call it this side of the pond!)
For those who can't access beyond the paywall:
“We wanted to show that we’re willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary. Same as our forefathers, who established this country in 1776,” said Eric Munchel, who had driven from Nashville, Tennessee, with his mother, Lisa Eisenhart.
The pair were among the crowd who flooded the Capitol the previous afternoon but claimed that they left as soon as demonstrators talked about stealing laptops and government papers. Eisenhart stressed to me that they had gone into the building as “observers” – both wore bulletproof vests — and that her son had told her not to touch anything.
However, Twitter sleuths quickly worked to determine that it was Munchel who was caught on camera leaping over railings in the senate chamber in full paramilitary gear – in a photograph that quickly went viral.
During our conversation, as they packed their car the following day to go home, Munchel claimed that he had left his guns behind in Tennessee due to strict gun laws in Washington but, unsurprisingly, didn’t mention that he had been clutching a handful of plastic zip ties while storming the Capitol. These are the restraints typically used by police to detain individuals, and it’s unclear what Munchel’s intention was with them. The photograph led to speculation that the rioters were potentially planning to take hostages. The riot left five people, including a police officer, dead.
“It was a kind of flexing of muscles,” said Munchel, who wore a bulletproof vest and complained that police confiscated his Taser during the riot. “The intentions of going in were not to fight the police. The point of getting inside the building is to show them that we can, and we will.”
Preparing for their 10-hour drive home, the 30-year-old clamoured for greater organisation in the next steps to fight against Biden’s America. He worried that many pro-Trump warriors were individualists and lamented that potential leaders in the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement faced difficulty in rallying troops due to banishment from mainstream social media sites. “Our biggest struggle is getting together, knowing where to go, what to do and who to go to,” said Munchel despondently.
His mother agreed: “The left has everything: the media, organisations, the government. We have to organise if we’re going to fight back and be heard.” Eisenhart, a nurse, added that a violent revolution has long been on the cards thanks to last year’s racial justice protests, anti-police riots and “unnecessary” coronavirus lockdowns.
“This country was founded on revolution. If they’re going to take every legitimate means from us, and we can’t even express ourselves on the internet, we won’t even be able to speak freely, what is America for?” said a teary-eyed Eisenhart, biting into a hotdog. “I’d rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression. I’d rather die and would rather fight.”
WilliamMurderfacex3 on February 18th, 2021 at 19:48 UTC »
Can we stop calling them zip-ties? They're quick cuffs or flexi-cuffs specifically made for restraining people quickly. Zip-ties are used to manage cables, not people.
Edit: the reason I feel like the language is important here is because simply calling them zip ties minizmies the inpact of the object in question. Where he got them from is a non-issue, however his possession and the intent of his actions while carrying the flexi-cuffs is. Many of us believe that there is an inherant implication into the use of the term zip ties in this application, but not everyone has wherewithal to understand that they're talking about flexi cuffs here and not just cable ties. You all make great arguments here, but I feel like we need more transparency and use of direct language when it comes to written media, especially in the age of misinformation. Be excellent to each other.