(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A defense attorney representing a J6 defendant has motioned for the government to provide a list of media members who were allowed onto the grounds or inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Defense attorney William Shipley filed his motion on March 22, after the Capitol Police refused to provide a list of approved Jan. 6 media. The U.S. government also refused to provide a list of people whom the Capitol Police, Justice Department and FBI identified as media on Jan. 6, but who weren’t approved to be on Capitol grounds.
Shipley filed his motion after USCP Lt. Frederick Hopkins testified earlier this month at a separate Jan. 6 trial that media had to apply in advance to be admitted to the Capitol that day, vetted for security purposes, and then given specific instructions as to where they were to go prior to the beginning of the event. Lt. Hopkins also testified that the Capitol Police has records of approved list of all members of the media allowed onto the grounds or inside the Capitol on January 6.
Shipley’s motion is on behalf of Jan. 6 defendant Nathan Hughes, who faces charges of civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct. Hughes has pled not guilty to all charges.
Shipley said his client is a journalist, and that he’s contemplating a motion to dismiss on selective-prosecution grounds.
“Hughes is a freelance independent journalist, with a history of reporting on political rallies, demonstrations and protests going back to 2017 … Mr. Hughes covered the events of January 6 in this same fashion, and posted his observations on various social media and online news websites,” his motion said.
“To the extent that the Government has identified members of media companies or freelance journalists on the grounds or inside the Capitol who were NOT on the pre-approved list, Mr. Hughes has a legitimate basis to be provided that evidence in order to determine whether a motion to dismiss is warranted based on his disparate treatment relative to other identified media members who have not been charged in the more than three years since the events,” he said.
Headline USA understands there are more than 20 other reporters who the Capitol on Jan. 6, but aren’t facing charges.
But to date, the only journalists to be charged for Jan. 6 are conservatives.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
