Furious Judge Finds D.C. Jail Officials in Contempt for ‘Abuse’ of Jan. 6 Prisoner Christopher Worrell

A federal decide on Wednesday slammed D.C. jail officers over the doable mistreatment of accused Capitol rioters in custody, calling for the Justice Division to open a civil rights investigation and holding two officers in contempt of courtroom for delaying medical remedy.

“It’s extra than simply inept and bureaucratic shuffling of papers,” U.S. District Decide Royce C. Lamberth fumed throughout a contentious listening to Wednesday about medical delays for accused rioter Christopher Worrell. “Does nobody care? Does nobody observe up?”

In the course of the listening to, Lamberth stated that jail officers failed to show over essential data that was wanted to approve a surgical procedure for the accused rioter’s damaged wrist—though the medical process was beneficial 4 months in the past. The accused Proud Boys member from Florida, who’s receiving chemotherapy for most cancers, was arrested in March on a number of fees after allegedly attacking police with pepper spray through the Jan. 6 riots.

“I discover that the civil rights of the defendant have been abused,” Lamberth said, including that he was made conscious of the “inexcusable” delay final week and ordered jail officers to show over notes to the U.S. Marshals Service since Worrell is a federal inmate.

Lamberth stated that when he realized the jail nonetheless had not despatched over the data on Tuesday morning he ordered them to look in courtroom for a contempt listening to. Deputy Lawyer Normal Chad Copeland confirmed through the listening to that jail officers ultimately produced the data Tuesday afternoon.

“It took a courtroom order from me and a risk of contempt to get it accredited. Why did that occur? Nobody on the jail observed he’s been sitting there in ache this entire time?” Lamberth stated.

After the listening to, Lamberth ordered that Wanda Patten, the warden of the D.C. jail, and Quincy Sales space, director of the D.C. Division of Corrections, “are in civil contempt of courtroom.” The order additionally famous that the U.S. Lawyer Normal acquired a duplicate of the ruling “for applicable inquiry into potential civil rights violations of Jan. 6 defendants, as exemplified on this case.”

“I don’t know if it’s as a result of he’s a January sixth defendant or not, however I discover this matter needs to be referred to the legal professional normal of the US for a civil rights investigation into whether or not the D.C. Division of Corrections is violating the civil rights of January sixth defendants…on this and possibly different circumstances,” Lamberth added in courtroom.

Whereas Worrell didn’t attend Wednesday’s listening to, his lawyer reiterated his shopper’s “grave issues” over entry to medical care as he begins his subsequent set of chemotherapy and radiation for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After the listening to, legal professional Alex Stavrou said in a statement that he and his client were “happy” that the decide took their issues critically and “pray that the Workplace of the Lawyer Normal will conduct this inquiry instantly and with out prejudice.”

A number of accused rioters and their legal professionals have alleged mistreatment whereas detained for his or her actions on Jan. 6. As of final month, almost 40 accused rioters have been incarcerated in D.C. out of almost 700 pending trial.

In an September interview with The Each day Beast, Joseph McBride, the lawyer for Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett—who posted photos in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office—referred to as the long-troubled jail system within the nation’s capitol “DC-GITMO” for its “horrible situations for these related to Capital riots.”

He stated Wednesday that he filed an Aug. 3 emergency request with Amnesty Worldwide and the ACLU to research “the mistreatment of January Sixers” being held in D.C. jail. He advised The Each day Beast that his request detailing “a number of situations of abuse” went “unanswered.”

Lawyers for defendants together with Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola have complained in courtroom filings about mistreatment. In a July movement, legal professionals for Pezzola, who’s accused of smashing a Capitol window with a police defend, stated he was saved in his cell for not less than 22 hours a day and “entry to non-public hygiene comparable to showers is almost nonexistent.”

“People who’re housed within the D.C. Jail, who’re accused of committing crimes on January 6, 2021, at The Capitol are handled in a different way than all different prisoners who’re housed within the jail,” Pezzola’s legal professionals alleged.

When requested about Lamberth’s fiery outburst on Wednesday, McBride stated the decide “validated what my colleagues and I’ve been screaming for months when he acknowledged the truth that civil rights abuses are happening.”

“That is simply the tip of the iceberg. America will probably be dropped at tears when the reality about the way in which January Sixers have been handled through the detention comes out!” McBride added in a textual content message.