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William Alexander Pope (U.S. Attorney’s Office).
An accused Jan. 6 rioter who has raised the possibility of a “cycle of retribution” stemming from his prosecution is getting his wish to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration.
William Alexander Pope was cleared to travel to Washington, D.C., from Jan. 19 to Jan. 21, U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras, a Barack Obama appointee, ruled in his Tuesday order.
Prosecutors opposed the move, saying Pope is a “danger to the D.C. community.”
Pope responded, saying in his reply he was peaceful on Jan. 6, never assaulted anyone, and was not charged with assault.
“Since January 6, 2021, I have traveled to Washington twice and have had nothing but positive interactions with Capitol Police,” he wrote. “In May of 2023, one former Capitol Police lieutenant bought me coffee when I visited the Congressional office building to view the January 6 CCTV. And when I toured the Capitol last October, I was very friendly to the USCP officer who led the tour, and we shook hands when the tour ended.”
“The only people who freaked out about me touring the Capitol in October were the members of the prosecution team and the FBI agents who stalked me the entire time, so I suspect that the only individuals who will experience a mental breakdown if I attend the inauguration are also on the prosecution team,” he added. “For that reason alone, the Court should grant my travel as a way to gently instill some emotional resiliance and critical thinking skills into these government attorneys.”
“Furthermore, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, whose name is on the government’s opposition to my travel, has announced that he is resigning on January 16,” Pope continued. “Graves clearly doesn’t believe in these cases enough to stay on to the very end, so why should I continue to be disrespected by the employees he is abandoning?”
He pointed to precedent for this, citing U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s permitting defendant Eric Lee Peterson permission to attend the inauguration.
“Clearly, Judge Chutkan understands that we come in peace,” he wrote. “Having exchanged a friendly greeting with Judge Chutkan in the cafeteria of the courthouse when I was recently in Washington, I got the impression that she more emotionally stable that some of these junior government attorneys.”
“So, I urge the Court to permit my travel,” he added. “As the Court knows, the American people faced a decision to either continue these prosecutions or end them, and they voted to elect the candidate who campaigned on ending them. The people’s decision is why I am being invited to the Presidential Inauguration in the first place.”
Pope and his brother went to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal Rally” and to protest Congress’ certification of the Electoral College vote count, prosecutors said.
They allegedly arrived at the Mall at about 7 a.m. that day, listened to Trump’s speech, then walked to the Capitol, prosecutors said. Pope narrated in a Facebook livestream that “[w]e got a lot of people who are not happy that the election is potentially being stolen. And, ah, they are here to stand up for our country,” court documents said.
Pope allegedly entered the Capitol at 2:18 p.m. with his brother immediately following behind.
At one point, a scuffle broke out between police and rioters. Pope allegedly stood with the flagpole he was carrying wedged into a door jamb, preventing officers from closing the door. He and his bother then allegedly walked with other rioters further into the building. They allegedly walked through the suite of offices belonging to then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the Crypt, and Statuary Hall, then exited the building at 2:37 p.m.
After Pope’s arrest on Feb. 12, 2021, the government agreed that he could remain on release pending trial, without a curfew, home detention, or monitoring. One condition, however, was that he be prohibited from traveling to Washington, D.C., except for his court proceedings.
Law&Crime has covered the twists and turns of Pope’s case. In November, the one-time city council candidate in Topeka, Kansas, argued for the delay in his case — and won. He said in court papers that “wielding extreme government force can lead to a dangerous cycle of escalating retribution as control of the government continues changing hands.”
