A federal judge refused Thursday to set bail for a Texas man who was wearing a T-shirt that said, “I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021,” when he was arrested on charges he stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
U.S. Judge Carl Nichols ordered Garret Miller to remain jailed pending trial, concluding the Dallas man poses a danger to the community.
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Miller didn’t give a statement to the law enforcement officers who arrested him at his home two weeks after the riots, prosecutors said. But they noted he was wearing a T-shirt that had a photograph of former President Donald Trump, and it said “Take America Back” and “I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021.”
Prosecutors presented a photograph of Miller wearing the shirt during an earlier hearing for his case and cited it in a court filing seeking his pretrial detention.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Kelley said Miller has shown a troubling “lack of respect for any authority."
“Ï think it’s safe to say that nobody who entered the Capitol that day showed any respect for authority, so I don’t credit that argument very much,” countered defense attorney F. Clinton Broden. He conceded Miller entered the Capitol that day but said his client didn't engage in any violence.
On a recorded call immediately after his arrest, Miller told his mother, “I don’t feel that I’ve done anything wrong and now I’m being locked up,” according to prosecutors.
Like many of the more than 300 people facing federal charges in connection with the siege, Miller thoroughly documented and commented on his actions that day in a flurry of social media posts.
After Miller posted a selfie showing himself inside the Capitol building, another Facebook user wrote, “bro you got in?! Nice!” Miller replied, “just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol,” prosecutors said.
Miller is charged with joining the mob that breached the Capitol building and making violent threats on social media after the siege.
Later, authorities said, he allegedly threatened to kill New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. After the Democratic congresswoman tweeted the word “Impeach,” Miller tweeted back to her, “Assassinate AOC,” according to prosecutors.
In a Jan. 10 post on Instagram, Miller said the officer who shot and killed a woman in the crowd of rioters should get a televised execution, according to prosecutors. Miller believed the officer was a Black man and called him a “prize to be taken,” prosecutors said.
“He will swing,” he allegedly wrote. “I had a rope in my bag on that day.”
Miller wasn't as physically aggressive as others in the mob, but he wasn't “suddenly swept up in the moment,” the judge added, noting that Miller posted on social media about taking a grappling hook, rope and other tactical gear to the Capitol.
“He arrived armed and ready to fight,” the judge said.
A grand jury in the District of Columbia indicted Miller on 12 counts, including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.
Miller remains jailed in Oklahoma City. His transport to Washington is expected to remain on hold for roughly three more weeks because he broke his collarbone while playing soccer in the recreation yard at a Dallas jail.
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