A Tennessee man who is believed to be a protester who broke into the US Capitol last week and entered the Senate House with plastic restrictions was convicted in police custody on Monday.
Eric Munchel, 30, appeared before a federal judge, who ordered the Nashville resident to be detained without bail while awaiting further hearings, The Tennessean reported. Online detectives accused Munchel, who was nicknamed the “zip tie guy”, of being one of the two men who carried the restrictions to the Capitol building on January 6 amid a chaotic scene where supporters of President Trump were involved in a deadly mutiny.
He faces charges of intentionally entering or staying in a restricted building for reasons without legal authority, and a charge of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Eric Munchel, 30, is believed to be a man photographed carrying zipper ties to the Senate House during last week’s riot in the Capitol building, the FBI said.
(Department of Justice)
Prosecutors asked him to remain in custody until extradition to Washington DC
The FBI said photos of someone believed to be Munchel carried the restrictions, an item in a holster on his right hip and a cell phone mounted on his chest with an outward facing camera.
“In my experience, flexible handcuffs are used by the police to restrict and / or detain individuals,” wrote FBI agent Carlos Fontanez in a sworn statement.
Munchel was not accused of allegedly wearing zip ties.
When authorities found Munchel at a hotel in Washington DC on the day of the attack, they observed him carrying a “Taser Pulse”, a taser that emits electric shock, which he said was self-protective at the Trump rally before the Capitol siege.
Authorities said he attended the rally with a woman who was also photographed with him inside the Capitol, they said. Their relationship was not disclosed.
This photo provided by the Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee subway government, shows Eric Gavelek Munchel. Munchel was arrested in Tennessee in connection with the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol in Washington. (Nashville Metropolitan Government and Davidson County, Tenn. Via AP)
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A hearing on the Munchel case is scheduled for Tuesday.
“I want to remind you that it is very important that you communicate with them (lawyers) about your case. You need to speak openly and freely with them,” said Judge Chip Frensley of the United States, according to the newspaper. “You don’t talk to them and you communicate with them, it’s very difficult for them to represent you. We have challenges in the COVID era, and they will overcome these things, and I need to work with them so that they can do everything they can to represent you. “