'I have nothing to worry about': Jan. 6 defendant tells judge Trump will win and pardon him

21 May 2024

During his arraignment in the Washington, D.C. federal courtroom, January 6 defendant John Banuelos of Illinois told the judge overseeing proceedings that he wasn't worried about the prospect of prison, given his prediction about how the November election will turn out.

Banuelos is facing particularly serious charges of entering a restricted building with a deadly weapon or firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm at the Capitol. CBS News reported this week that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is also presiding over former President Donald Trump's election interference trial — told Banuelos that he should be careful about what he said during open court proceedings. But Banuelos was reportedly unmoved by her warning.

"Trump is going to be in office in six months, so I have nothing to worry about," Banuelos said.

The fact that the Department of Justice is prosecuting Banuelos on gun-related charges undermines the arguments made by Trump and his surrogates that those who stormed of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 were unarmed. According to charging documents, Banuelos allegedly "raised his jacket to reveal a firearm in his waistband."

"He then moved to the south side of the West Plaza, where he was a part of a crowd that had breached the police line," the DOJ alleges.

The defendant has referred to the public defender assigned to his case as a "public pretender," and said his court-appointed attorney was "f—ing with me." Banuelos has currently been remanded to a Chicago-area holding facility prior to his trial, as a magistrate judge determined he was a flight risk and he has been scheduled to be transferred to the D.C. jail. Judge Chutkan indicated she would consider a motion to free him prior to trial if his attorney filed a motion challenging his pre-trial detention.

"I fear for my life in D.C.," Banuelos said. "Why am I still being held while others aren't?"

The former president has said multiple times on the campaign trail that he would pardon January 6 defendants, whom he has described as "hostages." Trump has also played audio from imprisoned insurrectionists at his campaign rallies.

Micki Witthoeft — the mother of slain January 6 participant Ashli Babbitt – said she's been in contact with the ex-president. On March 22, Trump reportedly discussed "setting these guys free when [Trump] gets in" with Witthoeft, and told her to pass along a message to D.C, inmates "that they’re on his mind, and when he gets in they’ll get out."

During the attack on the capitol, Babbitt — a QAnon adherent who flew from California to D.C. during a deadly pandemic and broke past multiple police lines to get all the way to the speaker's lobby — was struck by a bullet fired from a Capitol Police Department officer's gun after she leapt through a window toward members of Congress who were just feet away. She later died from her injuries.

Click here to read CBS' report in full.

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