When police showed up at Garret Miller’s Dallas home earlier this year to arrest him on charges that he had participated in the Capitol riot, his wardrobe spoke for itself.

The 34-year-old unemployed man, who allegedly forced his way into the U.S. Capitol building and threatened a congresswoman and a police officer, was clad in a T-shirt emblazoned with a photograph of former president Donald Trump and text declaring: “I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021.”

New details of his Jan. 20 arrest were revealed this week in court documents as prosecutors urged a judge not to release him before his trial, noting that he allegedly admitted to bringing a gun into the Capitol during the deadly insurrection. Police also found an array of weapons and gear in Miller’s house, prosecutors said, including a grappling hook, ropes, body armor, night vision goggles, a crossbow and arrows, and multiple firearms with ammunition.

“By bringing tactical gear, ropes, and potentially, by his own admission, a gun to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Miller showed that he was not just caught up in the frenzy of the crowd but instead came to D.C. with the intention of disrupting the democratic process of counting and certifying Electoral College votes,” prosecutors said.

Many of the people arrested for storming the Capitol have allegedly incriminated themselves on social media. Alleged rioters have shared selfies inside the Capitol rotunda, taunted the FBI in videos, and showed off stolen police gear while recounting how they fought officers and forced their way inside the Capitol, according to prosecutors.

Miller, too, is accused of being vocal on social media about his role in the insurrection.

Miller boasted about storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to court records, and hours after the insurrection, he allegedly tweeted “Assassinate AOC,” targeting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who said she feared for her life as an angry mob forced its way into the federal building where she works.

He also sent a selfie that showed him standing inside the Capitol Rotunda, according to court records, with the caption: “Just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol.”

In another Facebook chat, a friend shared a concern that Miller might be arrested by the FBI.

“It might be time for me to . . . be hard to locate,” Miller allegedly wrote back.

In the weeks after the riot but before his arrest, Miller also grew obsessed with Ashli Babbitt, the woman fatally shot by a police officer as she tried to breach a restricted area inside the Capitol building, according to court records.

“Miller viewed Babbitt as a ‘sister in battle,'” prosecutors said. “He became consumed with her death and circulated photographs on Facebook of an African-American police officer that he believed was responsible for her death.”

“Dead serious she fought fir me now I fight fir her,” Miller allegedly wrote in one Facebook message.

In other messages, Miller allegedly declared it “huntin’ season” for the Black officer he believed had killed Babbitt and said he wanted to “hug his neck with a nice rope,” according to court records.

Although Miller declined to speak with the officers who arrested him, he talked to his mother on a recorded phone call from jail soon afterward.

“I don’t feel that I’ve done anything wrong and now I’m being locked up,” he allegedly told her.

Miller is being held in a detention facility in Oklahoma until he is extradited to D.C., where he will be tried in federal court. But he cannot be transferred until he receives medical treatment for a broken collarbone that he suffered inside a detention center in Dallas.

His defense attorney, F. Clinton Broden, has asked a judge to release Miller from custody until his trial.

“He has no history of violence, and he did not engage in any acts of violence in connection with the charged offenses, unlike many others who have previously been released,” Broden wrote in a motion to revoke a previous detention order.

But prosecutors say that Miller should remain in jail because he has shown a lack of remorse, made violent threats and previously suggested he would try to evade police.

“Miller came to D.C. for a fight,” prosecutors said. “The defendant contributed to the violence that took place on January 6, 2021, and he showed through his actions that he is a danger to our society and a threat to the peaceful functioning of our democracy.”

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

With ship now freed, a probe into Suez Canal blockage begins

Next »

U.S. home prices soared in January by most in 7 years