WASHINGTON — A navy veteran who shot and killed a handcuffed civilian in Iraq almost 20 years in the past was ordered jailed Tuesday on fees that he used a metallic baton to assault law enforcement officials throughout a mob’s assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Chief Decide James Boasberg agreed with prosecutors that Edward Richmond Jr., 40, of Geismar, Louisiana, is a hazard to the group. Richmond initially was launched after his Jan. 22 arrest.
FBI brokers discovered an AR-15 assault rifle in Richmond’s closet once they searched his Louisiana dwelling. Richmond is prohibited from possessing firearms after his 2004 manslaughter conviction for fatally capturing an Iraqi cow herder within the head whereas serving within the U.S. Army.
“The federal government is worried that, beneath rising stress, he could snap once more,” a prosecutor wrote in a court docket submitting.
The choose described Richmond’s conduct on the Capitol on Jan. 6 as “fairly troubling to me.”
The prosecutor stated Richmond was making an attempt to dwell “off the grid” with untraceable earnings earlier than his arrest on fees together with civil dysfunction and assaulting police with a harmful weapon. However the choose stated he did not view Richmond as a flight danger, as prosecutors argued.
Final Wednesday, a federal Justice of the Peace choose in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ordered Richmond’s launch from custody. Prosecutors persuaded Boasberg to overrule the Justice of the Peace’s determination.
The choose ordered Richmond to give up to the U.S. Marshals Service subsequent Monday. Richmond is the only caregiver for his 16-year-old son. The choose agreed to present Richmond time to make preparations for his son’s care whereas he’s in jail.
“I do know it is necessary to you. It is necessary to me additionally,” the choose instructed Richmond, who appeared remotely together with his Louisiana-based lawyer, John McLindon.
McLindon stated prosecutors are counting on “antiquated incidents” in Richmond’s life to argue that he’s a hazard to the group.
“There’s not one shred of proof that within the final three years he has engaged in any kind of violence or crimes. He has merely labored and raised his son,” the protection lawyer wrote.
Richmond was 20 when an Army court-martial panel convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced him to 3 years of navy confinement for killing Muhamad Husain Kadir in February 2004. Richmond additionally was dishonorably discharged from the Army.
The Army stated Richmond shot Kadir behind the pinnacle from about six ft away after the person stumbled. Richmond testified that he didn’t know Kadir was handcuffed and believed the Iraqi man was going to hurt a fellow soldier.
Richmond initially was charged with unpremeditated homicide, which carries a most sentence of life in jail. However the panel of 5 officers and 5 enlisted troopers lowered the cost to voluntary manslaughter.
Richmond was wearing tactical gear when he attacked police exterior the Capitol on Jan. 6, in accordance with an FBI agent’s affidavit.
Physique digicam footage captured Richmond repeatedly assaulting law enforcement officials with a black baton in a tunnel on the Capitol’s Decrease West Terrace, the FBI stated. Police struggled for hours to cease a mob of Donald Trump supporters from getting into the Capitol by means of the identical tunnel entrance.
“January 6 was not a one-time, harmless mistake, however slightly one instance of a sample of harmful conduct; of responding to tense conditions with violence,” wrote the prosecutor, Victoria Sheets.
Sheets stated the rifle present in Richmond’s dwelling was registered to his ex-wife. Prosecutors plan to cost Richmond with a criminal offense in reference to the gun, Sheets stated.
“He is aware of he isn’t purported to have this weapon,” she instructed the choose. “He is aware of what these weapons can do.”
A witness helped the FBI determine Richmond as someone who had traveled to Washington with a number of different folks to function a “safety group” for the witness for rallies deliberate for Jan. 6, the affidavit says.
Over 100 law enforcement officials had been injured in the course of the riot. Greater than 1,200 folks have been charged with federal crimes associated to the Capitol assault.
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