National Roundup

Washington
Man sentenced 2 years in prison for threatening election workers
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas man who was the first arrest by a Justice Department task force that investigates threats to election workers has been sentenced to two years in prison over posts made following the 2020 election, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Chad Christopher Stark, 55, was accused of posting threatening messages on Craigslist about killing government officials in Georgia. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of communicating interstate threats.

Prosecutors say Stark, who is from suburban Austin, urged Georgia residents on social media to “militia up” and called for shooting several unnamed officials and judges. The messages were posted on Jan. 5, 2021, the day before Congress was set to ratify the Electoral College’s votes.

“Christopher Stark threatened the lives of multiple election workers in an attempt to prevent them from doing their job,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates the FBI’s resolute commitment to securing American elections from any attempts to undermine their integrity.”

A federal public defender for Stark did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

Stark’s arrest was the first by the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, which was launched in 2021 amid a rising tide of violent threats against people who count and secure the vote. The threats followed former President Donald Trump making repeated unproven claims that election fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election.

Mississippi
Infrequent grand juries can mean long pretrial waits in jail, survey shows
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Most people in Mississippi’s county jails have been locked up at least three months while waiting to go on trial. Some have longer wait times because two-thirds of the counties only convene grand juries two or three times a year, according to a survey released Thursday by a group that tracks justice issues.

Mississippi does not require consistency among the 82 counties about how often grand juries meet to consider indictments — the formal charging documents to send a case to trial.

“If you get arrested in one of these counties where grand juries seldom meet, you can wind up in jail for months or even years just waiting to be indicted, and you will spend more time behind bars simply because of geographic misfortune,” said Cliff Johnson, an attorney who is director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Starting during the summer, law students and staff at the center spent several weeks issuing more than 100 public records requests and calling the offices of district attorneys and court clerks to gather information about the frequency of grand jury sessions.

In releasing the survey results, Johnson said Mississippi should join most other states in limiting how long prosecutors can delay seeking indictments. Mississippi, Alabama, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Virginia are the only states with no time limit on how long a person can be jailed without being indicted, he said.

Johnson estimated the cost for a Mississippi county to convene a grand jury at less than $5,000.

The survey found nearly 5,400 people were in Mississippi’s county jails — although Johnson said the number could be higher because jail population is notoriously difficult to track. The survey also found 2,683 pretrial detainees had been jailed longer than 90 days, more than 1,100 had been jailed at least nine months, and 747 had been jailed more than a year.

Johnson said the incarceration numbers are based on the most recent information that counties provided. Rules of criminal procedure only require sheriffs to say how many people have been detained at least 90 days, though some sheriffs release complete numbers of how many people are jailed, he said.

Some people are in Mississippi jails to serve short-term misdemeanor sentences. Some are there after a civil commitment for mental health issues or substance use. Those awaiting indictment are there because a judge would not set bond, or the person could not afford to post the bond that was set.

Five counties reported that grand juries meet monthly, but those results come with asterisks. DeSoto and Jackson counties “usually” meet that often, while Rankin County reported its grand jury meets “nearly every month.” Forrest and Stone are the other counties that reported monthly meetings.

The state’s largest county, Hinds, has two judicial districts. A grand jury meets six times a year in the Jackson-based district and three times a year in the Raymond-based district.

Another large county, Harrison, said a grand jury meets three times a year in each of its two judicial districts in Biloxi and Gulfport.

Two counties in the Delta — Leflore and Sunflower — reported that grand juries meet “as needed.” Leflore, Sunflower and Washington counties are in the same circuit court district and have the same district attorney.

Virginia
FBI: Man wearing Captain America backpack stole items from senators’ desks
A Virginia man was arrested Wednesday on charges that he stormed the U.S. Capitol while wearing a Captain America backpack and stole items from senators’ desks on the Senate floor during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, court records show.

Ryan Joseph Orlando took a pen from the desk of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and a drink coaster from the desk of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit.

Orlando, 28, of Arlington, Virginia, was arrested in his hometown on charges including theft of government property, disorderly conduct and unauthorized entry on the floor of a House of Congress, an arrest warrant says.

Surveillance video captured Orlando entering the Capitol through a fire door on the west side of the building. He was wearing a black mask and a round Captain America-themed backpack and appeared to be recording video on his phone as he walked around the Capitol.

Orlando and other rioters entered the Senate chamber around 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, after senators evacuated the floor. C-SPAN footage shows Orlando rifling through and possibly photographing documents from senators’ desks, including one belonging to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky.

C-SPAN video also captured Orlando remove a pen from Collins’ desk and stick it in his pocket and take a white coaster from Manchin’s desk before police led him out of the chamber, the FBI affidavit says. Police also removed him from the building, but he reentered the Capitol through a broken window and remained inside for several more minutes, according to the affidavit.