Proud Boy charged with pepper spraying police during Capitol riot contracts Covid in jail [View all]
A member of the Proud Boys charged with pepper spraying a line of police officers at the Capitol is urging a federal appeals court panel to free him from pretrial detention, citing a Covid-19 diagnosis he received while being held in a Washington, D.C., jail.
Christopher Worrell is particularly vulnerable to Covid, his lawyer Allen Orenberg said, because he's also in the midst of treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and has a compromised immune system. Worrell had previously sought relief from U.S. District Court, citing symptoms that had emerged as a result of his lymphoma, saying that he had been unable to access his cancer medication while in the D.C. lockup.
"Given the pandemic and acute danger to Mr. Worrell, his continued detention amounts to impermissible pretrial punishment," Orenberg wrote. "The Governments interest in securing his appearance at trial does not outweigh his liberty interest in remaining alive and free from harm."
Orenberg revealed the Covid diagnosis amid Worrell's appeal of a decision by Judge Beryl Howell, chief of the federal District Court in Washington, to reject Worrell's bid for release last month.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/proud-boy-charged-with-pepper-spraying-police-during-capitol-riot-contracts-covid-in-jail/ar-BB1fH4SJ
I hope contracting the disease will motivate this guy to be less of an asshole. Time will tell.