Jan. 6 Defendant Warns Judge About Setting Trial Before Trump Takes Office

A man charged over his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol warned a judge Friday that he should not hold his trial before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.
William Pope, from Topeka, Kansas, has represented himself in court and filed a motion to U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras to push back his case, saying that continuing the prosecution would have consequences.
“As I look at this from a thousand foot perspective, I find it important to renew my warning from ECF No. 329, that, ‘wielding extreme government force can lead to a dangerous cycle of escalating retribution as control of the government continues changing hands,'” he wrote.
Trump has suggested he would pardon at least some of those convicted, with a spokesperson telling Newsweek Thursday that the president-elect would make those decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for comment via email.
Pope, who was arrested alongside his brother, also called for the judge to begin “bestowing mercy” on others charged over the riot, which saw Trump supporters storm the Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
Protesters argued they were there to exercise their First Amendment rights, voicing concern that the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump.
Pope, whose charges include entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct, and obstructing law enforcement, said that Trump’s reelection on November 5 meant his case needed reassessment.
“In delivering both an electoral victory and popular vote majority, the American people gave President Trump a mandate to carry out the agenda he campaigned on, which includes ending the January 6 prosecutions and pardoning those who exercised First Amendment rights at the Capitol,” Pope wrote.
He also said he was “sensitive” to the results in Washington, D.C., where over 90 percent of voters had chosen Vice President Kamala Harris, and therefore, he felt they could not be fair jurors.
“I continue to believe that a fair jury trial is not possible for January 6 defendants in Washington. However, if there should be a jury trial in my case, it should happen after emotions have had time to cool. This further justifies this case being continued into 2025,” he wrote.
Judge Contreras said he was open to the idea that the trial should not be held within the next 60 days. A start date of August 4, 2025, was floated over the previous December 2, 2024.
As of October 6, around 1,561 people had been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, including 590 charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement, 979 had pleaded guilty, while 210 people had been found guilty through U.S. District Court trials.
Correction 11/8/24, 6:04 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to clarify Contreras’ statement about the trial date.