An Iowa man accused of participating in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was jailed again after getting caught using the internet.
There was “clear and convincing evidence” that Douglas Jensen accessed the internet on a cell phone on Aug. 13 and watched video of a cyber symposium related to the 2020 presidential election on a phone days before that, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly wrote in a Sept. 2 order.
According to prosecutors, Jensen was found by an officer alone, in his garage, using an iPhone to stream news from Rumble, a video platform, 30 days after his release.
Jensen offered a series of excuses regarding the violation of the terms of release before eventually admitting that he had spent two days that week watching a cyber symposium put on by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell.
Jensen’s lawyer told the court in a motion for his release that the man had been “a victim of numerous conspiracy theories that were being fed to him over the internet by a number of very clever people” and that he had not intended to, nor did he, commit violence on Jan. 6.
Jensen did become caught up in the QAnon movement, which revolves around a number of theories, but recognized while sitting in a jail cell in Washington that “he bought into a pack of lies,” according to the motion. Jensen had a “wakeup call” in jail and was prepared to comply with conditions set by the court to go home, be with his family, and work, the lawyer added.
After Jensen violated the conditions, prosecutors said Jensen’s “alleged disavowal of QAnon was just an act; that his alleged epiphany inside the D.C. Jail was merely self-advocacy; and that, at the end of the day, Jensen will not abandon the misguided theories and beliefs that led him to menacingly chase U.S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up the Senate staircase” on Jan. 6.
Kelly, a Trump nominee, agreed.
“It’s now clear that he has not experienced a transformation and that he continues to seek out those conspiracy theories that led to his dangerous conduct on Jan. 6,” the judge said during a hearing on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
“I don’t see any reason to believe that he has had the wake-up call that he needs,” the judge added.
Christopher Davis, a lawyer representing the defendant, asked the court to allow Jensen to remain free from jail. Jensen complied with other conditions of his release, such as remaining home, and should be given another chance.
Davis said his client did not dispute that he went on the internet but described it as “Orwellian” for prosecutors to move to have his client jailed again for sitting in his garage and using the internet.
Friends Read Free