What is Jan. 6 defendant's response to being accused of punching woman in Asheville bar?

ASHEVILLE - A Jan. 6 defendant should be allowed to remain free on bond despite charges he punched a woman in the throat in an Asheville bar Thanksgiving night, he has told a federal judge.

Alan St. Onge, 36, of Brevard, said the assault charges against him stemming from a Nov. 23 encounter at a downtown bar do not mean he is a danger or a flight risk, according to a recent filing by his attorney. For that reason, he should not have his bond revoked while awaiting resolution of charges he participated in the 2021 insurrection, said the Dec. 8 filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. St. Onge has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

"While the assault allegations are troubling, they remain allegations and the existence of charges does not make Mr. St. Onge a danger to others or the community. He was not jailed on any of the charges by the State of North Carolina, and he received an unsecured bond," said his attorney, Renae Alt-Summers of Columbia, South Carolina.

U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols has set a date of Dec. 12 for prosecutors to respond to the defense's arguments.

According to prosecutors, St. Onge was at the 27 Club on Patton Avenue making advances on a woman who rebuffed him. He then approached two other patrons, a man and woman, and asked the man to bet him "who would (expletive)" his companion first, the prosecutors said.

The woman told him to stop harassing women at the bar and St. Onge threw an ashtray at her chest, according to an Asheville Police report. She threw water at him and St. Onge punched her in the throat, police said.

The male attempted to intervene and St. Onge pushed him to the ground and kicked and stomped on him until another person announced the police had been called, the report said. St. Onge left the bar but was stopped by police for traffic violations and charged with driving while impaired and later assault and assault on a female. A Buncombe County magistrate allowed him to go free on an unsecured bond.

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Once federal prosecutors learned of the arrest they filed the bond revocation motion. But St. Onge's attorney said that motion was only one version of events.

"Essentially, the misdemeanor assault charges arose from an apparent difference of opinion in an Asheville bar. At present, the only version of the events of that Thanksgiving night comes from the alleged victims, as told to the responding officer who was summoned by the bar owner," St. Onge's attorney said.

But 27 Club owner Imran Malik, noting St. Onge's large stature, said he was "obviously a danger."

Malik told the Citizen Times Dec. 11 "a man his size who punches a woman on the throat" should not be able to "walk around free."

St. Onge is facing four charges related to what prosecutors say was his participation in the Capitol insurrection. He was indicted July 19 on the felony and three misdemeanors. He pleaded not guilty Aug. 21.

Prosecutors say St. Onge "turned his back to a metal barricade and, using the considerable mass of his body, pushed it against the police on the other side who were resisting his efforts and trying to hold the police line."

Also currently facing charges related to the Capitol riot is Nathan Baer of Starnes Cove, near Asheville.

Three men from WNC have been convicted for actions on and near Jan. 6.

• Thomas Gronek of Asheville, was arrested Jan. 5, 2021, in Washington in a bus spray painted "Hippies 4 Trump" and pleaded guilty to violating a D.C. gun law of carrying a rifle outside his home. He was sentenced to time served and a $50 fine.

• Cleveland Grover Meredith of Hayesville, threatened to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the head after arriving in Washington Jan. 7, 2021, with an assault rifle and 2,500 rounds of ammunition. He was sentenced to more than two years in prison.

• Lewis Easton Cantwell of Waynesville, pleaded guilty to obstructing officers during the Jan. 6 attack and was sentenced to five months in prison.

The most prominent people with links to WNC and Jan. 6 are Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was charged with conspiring to flip the Georgia presidential election results. Ex-Trump attorney and former Asheville and Biltmore Forest resident Sidney Powell pleaded guilty to her role in that effort. She is also understood to be an unnamed co-conspirator in a federal election interference case.

Former WNC Congressman Madison Cawthorn delivered a fiery speech to Trump supporters before the attack. A lawsuit said he should be denied a spot on the ballot because he was an insurrectionist but the case dropped when he lost the Republican primary.

More: AG: Mark Meadows won't face voter fraud charges in North Carolina

More: WNC woman worked with antigovernment website founder to issue fake arrest writs; convicted

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: J6 defendant: shouldn't be jailed after alleged Asheville bar assault