Proud Boy charged with pepper spraying police during Capitol riot contracts Covid in jail
A member of the Proud Boys charged with pepper spraying a line of police officers at the Capitol is urging a federal appeals court panel to free him from pretrial detention, citing a Covid-19 diagnosis he received while being held in a Washington, D.C., jail.
Christopher Worrell is particularly vulnerable to Covid, his lawyer Allen Orenberg said, because he's also in the midst of treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and has a compromised immune system. Worrell had previously sought relief from U.S. District Court, citing symptoms that had emerged as a result of his lymphoma, saying that he had been unable to access his cancer medication while in the D.C. lockup.
"Given the pandemic and acute danger to Mr. Worrell, his continued detention amounts to impermissible pretrial punishment," Orenberg wrote. "The Government’s interest in securing his appearance at trial does not outweigh his liberty interest in remaining alive and free from harm."
Orenberg revealed the Covid diagnosis amid Worrell's appeal of a decision by Judge Beryl Howell, chief of the federal District Court in Washington, to reject Worrell's bid for release last month.
Howell questioned Worrell's assertions that he had been unable to access his cancer medication while in jail, attributing it instead to his doctor's actions, and she noted that Worrell joined the Capitol mob maskless and without apparent concern for his health. Health concerns aside, Howell said, Worrell's alleged attack on police with a chemical spray, as well as his other conduct on Jan. 6, justify his continued detention. She also ordered him detained in part because of an apparent threat he made to a witness while FBI agents were taking him into custody.
Worrell's Covid diagnosis is not the first for a Capitol riot detainee. Bruno Cua, an 18-year-old Georgia defendant, was diagnosed last month before he was freed from pretrial detention. Several others have cited the potential risk of Covid in jail as an argument for pretrial release, but judges have largely rejected those calls, citing the Covid protocols in place in the D.C. jail and the limited number of cases that have been reported there.
The Worrell case, however, comes as federal judges are increasingly attentive to other claims that the Capitol defendants have faced problematic conditions in jail. One alleges he was assaulted by a prison guard, and others say they're suffering psychological degradation while in 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement. The tenor of the complaints has escalated in recent weeks, prompting Judge Emmet Sullivan and colleagues on the District Court to arrange a meeting with D.C. government officials. It's unclear whether the meeting occurred.
