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Edward Richmond, Jr. (via FBI court filing).
The Army vet who served time for killing an unarmed Iraqi man while serving overseas has been ordered to stay behind bars as federal prosecutors pursue assault charges against him for the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Edward Richmond Jr., 40, is facing a slew of felonies and misdemeanors for allegedly violently assaulting police at the Capitol with a baton. Prosecutors alleged that Richmond, originally from Louisiana, traveled to Washington, D.C., from Ohio with a group of around nine other people who planned to attend pro-Trump rallies in the area on Jan. 6, the day mandated by the Constitution for Congress to certify the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
He was not immediately kept in custody after his arrest, and government attorneys filed an emergency motion asking for him to be remanded. Prosecutors argued that Richmond, who has a history of violence, “may snap again” if he’s not detained.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg granted the government’s request and ordered Richmond detained.
The judge reportedly said that it was a close call, according to Politico. However, the fact that Richmond was found in possession of an AR-15 when he was arrested — despite him not being allowed to own firearms since his manslaughter conviction — was the deciding factor.
Boasberg, a Barack Obama appointee, gave Richmond a one-week reprieve to arrange for his 15-year-old son’s care, Politico reported. Richmond intends to plead guilty, his lawyer reportedly said in court on Tuesday.
According to prosecutors, Richman wore a “black helmet, goggles, shoulder pads, an orange 2-way radio, and a patch on his chest of the Louisiana state flag” as he marched on the Capitol, where scores of Trump supporters violently breached the Capitol as the certification was underway, forcing lawmakers and staff to either flee the building or shelter in place for hours.
Security footage allegedly shows Richmond in the area of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, where some of the most violent attacks on police took place. Body camera footage allegedly shows Richmond using a baton to strike law enforcement officers multiple times.
Richmond was convicted in 2004 of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an Iraqi cow herder while serving with the U.S. Army in Tikrit. A military panel determined that Richmond shot Muhamad Husain Kadir in the head while he was being placed under arrest by soldiers during a suspected roundup of insurgents.
At his trial, Richmond testified that he didn’t know the man was handcuffed, and he thought he was going to attack a soldier, The Associated Press reported. He was originally charged with unpremeditated murder, which carried a potential life sentence, but the panel reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter.
Richmond was dishonorably discharged and sentenced to three years in military prison.
For his participation in the riot at the Capitol, Richmond is charged with civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers while using a dangerous weapon and inflicting bodily injury on certain officers — all felonies — as well as misdemeanor disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct.
The assault charge carries the heaviest potential sentence. It normally has a maximum eight-year statutory punishment, but the use of a dangerous weapon pushes the possible sentence up to 20 years behind bars.
