Jan. 6 rioter taken into custody after threatening posts targeting Justice Barrett, AG Garland
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — A Nevada man awaiting trial for charges stemming from his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was taken into custody this week for a series of threatening statements prosecutors say he made targeting public officials, including Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
According to court records obtained by ABC News, prosecutors moved to revoke Bradley Nelson’s bail following a series of statements and social media posts as recent as last month — that included an image posted Garland with crosshairs drawn on his head. Prosecutors moved to revoke his bail two days after his post about Garland.
Another post that concerned prosecutors targeted Barrett and followed the Supreme Court’s decision in Fischer v. United States involving an obstruction statute leveled against dozens of Jan. 6 rioters, including Nelson himself. Justice Barrett notably dissented from a majority opinion that significantly narrowed the statute’s use against participants in the Capitol attack.
“I pray to God with all my [expletive] heart that somebody cuts your [expletive] throat from ear to ear you worthless piece of [expletive],” Nelson allegedly posted of Barrett roughly an hour after the court’s ruling was made public.
Other posts flagged by prosecutors included an image posted by Nelson in August of 2023 of Judge Scott McAfee, the Georgia judge overseeing Trump’s election interference case brought by the Fulton County District Attorney, with crosshairs over his head.
Nelson also allegedly posted an image of New York Attorney General Letitia James with crosshairs that included the comment he would, “give every [expletive] thing I have to watch that [expletive]’s head explode, or at least the back of her head blowout,” the filing says.
A federal judge in Maryland ordered Nelson detained on Tuesday based on the statements, and also raised concerns about specific recent comments he made about FBI agents involved in his Jan. 6 case that were escalating in recent weeks.
According to the order, Nelson never disputed making any of the specific statements or posts, but instead argued that none amounted to threats, which the judge said he didn’t find convincing.
Whether Nelson continues to remain in custody, however, will be up to the D.C. district judge overseeing his case, Judge John Bates.
Nelson was first arrested in March of 2023 on several charges including entering and remaining on restricted grounds and violent and disorderly conduct in the Capitol.
Prosecutors said Nelson posted extensive sentiments online in advance of the riot about his desire for violence against public officials including Sen. Mitch McConnell and former Attorney General William Barr, though he was not accused of assaulting police during the riot itself.
Nelson has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is set to go to trial in December.
President Joe Biden speaks on economics during the Vote To Live Properity Summit at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 16, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden thrust his party into virtually unprecedented uncertainty Sunday when he announced he was ending his reelection campaign just weeks before his party’s convention and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s next presidential nominee.
What comes next is anyone’s guess.
Speculation over Biden’s electoral future had been at a fever pitch since the president’s apparently fatal presidential debate last month, but the party had not been able to come to a consensus on what would follow his departure from the election.
Ideas had included having Harris slide into the nomination given her spot on an existing national ticket and ability to inherit the funds from Biden’s campaign. Others, however, have pushed for a mini-primary of sorts to test the rigors of would-be replacements, with many Democrats still thinking that Harris would be the frontrunner in such an impromptu contest.
Democrats are also still waiting to see who would jump into the race besides Harris, if anyone. Other names that had been bandied about include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear; North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore; California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and more.
Some of those lawmakers have tweeted out praise for Biden, with Newsom dubbing him “one of the most impactful and selfless presidents” — but none had thrown their hats into the ring as of early Sunday afternoon, and none had issued a quick Harris of endorsement.
Conversations will assuredly pick up around potential plans.
One plan, being circulated by Democratic National Committee Member James Zogby would create a condensed primary of sorts, with candidates having to secure the endorsements of 40 of 400 current DNC members, including four from each of the party’s four regions. There would then be two televised debates, and the process would conclude when candidates would be formally nominated and voted on by delegates at Democrats’ convention next month.
Such a process would surely be condensed — Democrats’ convention is at the end of August, leaving little time to sort through the rubble of Biden’s departure before delegates formally pick a nominee. But some Democratic National Committee members believe the effort is worth it, and that the remaining calendar leaves enough time, if just barely.
“I hoped that it would have been done sooner, so that there would have been more time for the compressed primary that we had hoped for,” Zogby told ABC News last week as chatter spiked that Biden would drop out. “But even with the time available now, it still can be done and should be done because it’s better for the eventual nominee and the party that this not simply be a handoff, but that it be a process that is transparent and democratic.”
Others, however, are urging the party to coalesce behind Harris.
As a Black woman, Democrats have said both that she could appeal to the party’s most loyal demographic and that snubbing her would also serve as a snub to those voters. Polls have also shown that she performs better overall with Black and young voters than Biden, two key demographics with which Biden had seen his approval rating atrophy.
However, Republicans are chomping at the bit to go after her over the administration’s handling of the border, and her 2020 campaign was done in party by staff infighting, leaving it unclear the kind of campaign sprint she could run to November.
Still, having her take the reins could help limit chaos in an already muddled process, some Democrats have said. And she’ll have powerful allies at her back.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, a Democratic kingmaker, said as recently as Sunday morning that while he backed Biden, Harris would be the next up.
“Now that the donors and electeds have pushed out the only candidate who has ever beaten Trump, it’s time to end the political fantasy games and unite behind the only veteran of a national campaign — our outstanding @vp, @KamalaHarris!! Let’s get real and win in November!” Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff, posted on X Sunday.
Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gestures as he speaks on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Aug.21, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention saw the party’s vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, introduce himself to Americans in the keynote speech, as well as several heavy-hitters, in a night that stressed what the party calls the politics of “joy.”
Here’s a look at some of highlights and key takeaways, as the DNC gears up for the fourth and final night featuring Vice President Kamala Harris accepting the party’s nomination for president.
Walz introduces himself
Walz did his job in his convention speech. He touted his own background, rattling through his experience in the Army National Guard and as a high school teacher.
“It was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them: a commitment to the common good,” he said.
He also promoted his policy accomplishments, garnering particularly loud applause for his policy providing free breakfast and lunch in Minnesota public schools.
Walz said that while Republicans were banning books in schools, “we were banishing hunger in ours.”
And then, he served the duty of a loyal No. 2 — boosting his boss.
“If you’re a middle class family or a family trying to get into the middle class, Kamala Harris is going to cut your taxes,” he said. “If you’re hoping to buy a home, Kamala Harris is going to help make it more affordable.”
And then, in true Friday Night Lights fashion, he issued a call to action with a football metaphor.
“We’re down a field goal, but we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball,” he said before touting Harris as the team leader. “We’re driving down the field, and boy, do we have the right team.”
‘Joy’ a key word of the night
Oprah Winfrey urged voters to “choose joy.”
Former President Bill Clinton called Harris the “president of joy.”
Walz said Harris has consistently served “with energy, with passion and with joy.”
Speakers at the DNC mentioned the word “joy” approximately 35 times Wednesday night, as they worked to paint a bright future with Walz and Harris in the White House and their ticket the most logical one.
Clinton called Harris the “clear choice.”
Winfrey made the choice between Harris and Trump one of choosing “optimism over cynicism,” “common sense over nonsense” and “the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday.”
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, said the GOP is “chaotic and crazy, and the only thing left to do is dump Trump.”
“These days, our party acts more like a cult. A cult worshiping a felonious thug,” he said. “Look, you don’t have to agree with every policy position of Kamala Harris. I don’t, but you do have to recognize her prosecutor mindset that understands right from wrong, good from evil.”
Election pegged as a ‘fight for our freedoms’
The theme of the night was “A Fight for Our Freedoms.” Speakers addressed that in part Wednesday night by frequently invoking the conservative blueprint Project 2025 and what it would mean for issues like reproductive rights.
Veteran SNL actor Kenan Thompson even performed a variety skit that poked fun at “Project 2025.” He brought the prop “Project 2025” book and talked with people across the country about how the conservative policies would harm them, drawing boos and laughs from the crowd.
A portion of the programming also put the insurrection in the spotlight, with speakers including Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Jan. 6 committee, which after a yearlong investigation recommended the Justice Department bring criminal charges against Trump over the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
Duncan referred to the aftermath of the 2020 election in his remarks, noting that his path to the DNC podium began when Trump tried to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden in Georgia.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke to the assault’s threat to democracy without mentioning Trump by name.
“Never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the bedrock of our democracy, so gleefully embraced political violence, so willfully betrayed his oath of office,” she said.
“Let us not forget who assaulted democracy on Jan. 6. He did! But let us not forget who saved democracy that day. We did,” she said.
She said lawmakers returning to the Capitol that same night demonstrated that “American democracy prevailed” and called on voters now to “reject autocracy” and “choose democracy” by electing Harris and Walz.
Parents of Israeli-American hostage make emotional plea
In one of the more emotional moments, the parents of an Israeli-American hostage brought many delegates to tears as they recounted 320 days of anguish and pushed for a cease-fire deal to bring their son home.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were greeted with huge cheers and chants of “Bring them home,” as they spoke on stage, fighting back tears. The 23-year-old was at a music festival in south Israel celebrating his birthday on Oct. 7.
“That was 320 days ago. Since then, we live on another planet,” Goldberg said.
Polin said that he and his wife have met with Biden and Harris numerous times at the White House.
“They’re both working tirelessly for a hostage and cease-fire deal that will bring our precious children, mothers, fathers, spouses, grandparents and grandchildren home. And we’ll stop the despair in Gaza,” he said to cheers.
DNC brings out top talent
Following Tuesday night’s cameo-filled roll call, Wednesday night saw performances from more big names, including music legend Stevie Wonder.
John Legend and Sheila E. performed a tribute to Prince, a Minnesota legend, in honor of the Minnesota governor.
Amanda Gorman, who gained national fame after reciting her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the Biden-Harris inauguration in 2021, also read a new poem at the DNC that stressed unity.
In a rare act so far for the musical acts, Wonder addressed the crowd directly.
“This year I prayed very hard for peace to come to our world’s nations, but also to each one of our hearts,” he said in remarks before his performance of his classic “Higher Ground.”
“Even though our hearts have been beaten and broken beyond prayer, I know the important action and now is the time to understand where we are and what it will take to win. Win the broken hearts. Win the disenchanted,” he said. “Now is the time.”
(MILWAUKEE, W.I.) — Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was released from federal prison Wednesday morning after completing his sentence on contempt of Congress charges.
Navarro was convicted in September of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide testimony and documents to the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
He served four months in a low security facility in Miami.
Navarro was scheduled to speak Wednesday night at the Republic National Convention in Milwaukee, and on Wednesday morning was on his way from Miami to Milwaukee, according to sources.
In testimony during Navarro’s trial, former Jan. 6 committee staff director David Buckley said the House panel had been seeking to question Navarro about efforts to delay Congress’ certification of the 2020 election, a plan Navarro dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep” in his book, “In Trump Time.”
Navarro unsuccessfully argued that former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege over his testimony and document production.
During his sentence, Navarro worked in the prison library and lived in the “elder dorm,” Navarro’s prison consultant, Sam Mangel, told ABC News.
Navarro experienced no issues with other inmates or staff, and was “well respected,” Mangel said.
The prison consultant told ABC News that Navarro got through his sentence with “surprising grace and fortitude.”
“At four o’clock in the afternoon and 10 o’clock at night, you have to stand by your bed and be counted,” said Mangel. “Everybody wears the same color clothes, eats the same food and sleeps in the same bunk.”
“It’s a very degrading, humiliating experience for anyone,” Mangel said. “I’m quite sure he’s happy it’s over and he’s now able to move on with his life.”
Navarro, who under Trump was the director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, was the first former Trump adviser to report to prison for actions related to the Jan. 6 attack. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon , who was also convicted of contempt of Congress, began his four-month prison term earlier this month.
