“He has shown that he believes that violence is on the table,” said the magistrate. “His statements demonstrate a lack of faith and belief in the legitimacy of this government … I do not believe he will believe that these orders must be respected or followed.”
Griffin is known for his provocative and sometimes disturbing statements at Otero County Commission meetings and elsewhere. “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat,” he said at a rally in May, before insisting he was speaking metaphorically. After the January 6 invasion of the Capitol, Griffin said he planned to return to Washington armed for a Second Amendment rally on inauguration day.
Griffin was arrested near a security checkpoint in Washington on January 17. He faces a misdemeanor charge for entering a restricted Secret Service area without permission during the riot earlier this month.
A Griffin lawyer said he had “warned” his statement about the Democrats and that all of Griffin’s statements were within First Amendment standards, but the judge seemed doubtful.
“You can’t say something and then say that you really didn’t mean it,” said Faruqui. “Words matter. Facts matter … I don’t think this is a political speech. It is far from that.”
Griffin’s lawyer, Nicholas Smith, argued that his client’s concerns about executive and legislative power did not extend to the courts. “Nothing on the record suggests that he has no respect for the judiciary,” said Smith.
However, the judge said he saw no reason to make such a distinction.
Smith also argued that prosecutors needed to show that Griffin knew that a Secret Service protégé was on the Capitol when he allegedly breached the barricades outside.
Faruqui said it was obvious to anyone that Vice President Mike Pence was there because of his role in counting electoral votes – a process that was targeted by protesters on January 6. The judge also mentioned members of Congress, incorrectly claiming that they are protected by the Secret Service.
“This is not something that was relegated to a civic education class,” said the magistrate. “It was international news. … I think it’s a reasonable inference.”
An initial hearing for Griffin held on January 21 was aborted after he allegedly refused to speak to the judge over the phone and refused to take a Covid-19 test that would allow him to go to an area of DC prison where prisoners watch video court hearings.
Smith said the episode was a misunderstanding and his client thought the guards were trying to get him to speak to a lawyer who was looking to represent him. Griffin has already had a coronavirus test and has been placed in the general population, said the defense attorney.
Griffin, a former street preacher and cowboy artist from Paris Disneyland, is one of the most lightly accused defendants in federal lawsuits over the Capitol rebellion. He faces a maximum sentence on the current charge of up to one year in prison. Prosecutors did not claim that he entered the Capitol, but only that he passed the police lines and took a position on the Capitol stairs during the confusion.
Griffin can appeal the magistrate’s decision to the chief judge of the court, Beryl Howell, who said he sees the January 6 events as exceptionally serious.