After Being Incarcerated for Over a Year, Jan. 6 Prisoner Will Finally Have His Day in Court

Jeremy Brown dressed in tactical gear at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Brown provided security at the Stop the Steal Rally. JeremyBrownDefense.com

Jan. 6 prisoner Jeremy Brown has been incarcerated for over 13 months. On Dec. 5, he will finally have his first day in court.

As previously reported by The Epoch Times, Brown—a 20-year retired U.S. Army Special Forces Combat Veteran—was arrested on Sept. 30, 2021, by approximately 30 to 40 heavily armed federal agents and local law enforcement at his home in Tampa, Florida. He had been at the capital on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, as part of an all-volunteer protective detail tasked with providing security for organizers and speakers at a legally permitted political rally.

“Oddly, in the nine months prior to that day, I had never been contacted or questioned by any investigators about this case,” Brown had written in a letter (pdf), obtained exclusively by The Epoch Times. “Stranger still, the arrest warrant and search warrant had only been granted one day prior. This, despite numerous members of my Protective Detail having been arrested many months prior. While this may sound unusual to you, I know exactly why it happened.”

According to Brown, the same agents who arrested him on Sept. 30, 2021, had tried to recruit him as a Confidential Informant (CI) on Dec. 9, 2020, to “infiltrate law-abiding citizen groups.” He declined their offer.

“While I’ve been held in maximum security jail for 414 days in a row,” Brown told The Epoch Times by phone from the Pinellas County Jail in St. Petersburg, Florida, “I am innocent until proven guilty.”

While unsuccessful, Brown also launched a campaign for a seat in the Florida House from jail. Cathi Chamberlain—journalist, podcaster, and author—served as Brown’s “campaign commander.”

“His attorney is trying to get him to take a plea deal,” Chamberlain told The Epoch Times. “But he won’t do it.”

Brown’s court date, scheduled for Dec. 5, will be held in the Florida Middle District Court in Tampa. But he believes the government will try to keep people out of the courtroom.

“They don’t want anything to be revealed,” Brown said. “They’re doing everything they can to avoid what they know is coming. If I had to make a prediction, they are going to try to limit the amount of publicity my trial gets. But I am going to make sure I get my Sixth Amendment rights upheld.”

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a public trial without unnecessary delay, the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury, and the right to know who your accusers are. The accused also have the right to know the nature of the charges and what evidence their accuser has against them.

While Brown has not had any face-to-face human contact since his arrest over 13 months ago, he has maintained his sense of humor.

“At least I will be able to wear real clothes for the first time in over a year,” he laughed.