Facing 10 counts in Washington, D.C., for crimes related to the attack on the U.S. Capitol—including assault on police—and already facing three felony counts in Michigan related to the harassment of 911 dispatchers, a federal judge on Tuesday refused to release Jan. 6 defendant Jonathan Munafo from jail ahead of his trial this summer.
Munafo, prosecutors allege, struck a U.S. Capitol Police officer twice in the head and body before ripping a police riot shield out of an officer’s hands and passing that shield back to those mobbing the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Open-source video footage captured from the day also appears to show Munafo using a wooden flagpole—replete with a Gadsden/U.S. flag mash-up—to break open a window of the Capitol.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg denied Munafo’s request for release ahead of trial because of his extensive criminal history and record of mental health issues. Before his arrest in April for crimes related to Jan. 6, Munafo already had five criminal matters pending from around the U.S. There were also two outstanding warrants from Massachusetts and he had previously violated a suspended sentence received on an American Indian reservation.
Once the FBI caught up with him after Jan. 6, prosecutors say he then incurred an additional criminal charge while in custody because he placed “bodily fluid” on an officer.
“There is no condition or combination of conditions that can reasonably ensure the appearance of the defendant or the safety of the community or any member thereof if this court were to release the defendant,” prosecutors wrote Tuesday.
DOJ Motion for Munafo Pretrial Detention by Daily Kos on Scribd
Munafo was deemed mentally competent to stand trial last November after a federal judge in Michigan ordered a forensic evaluation. He was accused of making some 143 harassing phone calls to Calhoun County, Michigan 911 dispatchers on Jan. 5, just a day before the Capitol attack.
For hours that day, Munafo tied up the county’s emergency line as he threatened to kill and maim a dispatcher’s family if she would not connect him to a police officer, the indictment stated. In the calls, he identified himself only as “Yankee Patriot,” according to an affidavit filed by the FBI.
In one call, prosecutors say Munafo told the dispatcher:
“Bitch, I’m gonna cut your throat. I’m gonna make you eat your fucking nose. I’m gonna hurt you bad for this. It won’t be today, It won’t be tomorrow. It will be fucking soon, though, you stupid c-nt. Insurrection Act. I’m coming to your door first and it’s public knowledge, you stupid, you stupid bitch.”
The threats weren’t empty, according to the FBI. During the call, Munafo also recited the dispatcher’s home address back to her and gave her correct details about her mortgage and tax records.
Prior to the incident with the dispatcher, prosecutors say Munafo had been suspected of threatening to shoot and kill a man in Massachusetts. Police ended up tracking him down by tracing his license plate. His car wasn’t hard to miss—it was plastered with Trump stickers and “Blue Lives Matter” banners. There was also a life-size Trump mannequin in the backseat.
Before his arrest, Munafo spent several months living out of his car, prosecutors allege, traveling from state to state, often attending rallies held by the former president: From New York to Washington state to South Carolina to New Hampshire to Oklahoma to Massachusetts to Nevada and eventually to D.C., Munafo left a wake of destruction behind him.
In September 2020, while in Salisbury, Massachusetts, prosecutors said Munafo threatened to shoot and kill a man at a rest stop. A week later, he called a Massachusetts police line just under two dozen times, cursing and irate about getting into hot water for making the threats.
In November 2020, just a few days after the election, Munafo was arrested for assault and battery after he assaulted a jogger and proceeded to punch a woman in the face in Lynn, Massachusetts. He was standing on a boardwalk, court records note, with a sign that read: “The no longer silent majority stands with Trump.”
Once under arrest for the assaults in Lynn, Munafo then allegedly spit in the face of his arresting officer while hurling racial slurs. That exchange earned him additional assault and battery charges, but this time, against police officers.
Less than a month later, Munafo was in D.C. for the “Million MAGA March” on Dec. 12. That function was well attended by hate groups like the Proud Boys and violence broke out downtown between the president’s supporters, extremists, and counterprotestors. When he was arrested that day, Munafo was hit with an illegal weapon possession charge.
When he left D.C. on Jan. 7, Munafo was arrested again. This time for driving without a valid driver’s license and getting into an accident that totaled the vehicle he was driving. He hitched a ride with Trump supporters to California, prosecutors said, and once in Davis, California, was arrested for disturbing the peace after starting a fight at a celebration for Martin Luther King Day.
Saying there was a “certain level of consistency” through his conduct that would bar his release, Judge Boasberg on Tuesday, did, however, acknowledge the lengthy record of mental health concerns.
Munafo has attempted suicide twice in the last year and a magistrate judge in Michigan said he suffered from post-traumatic stress and borderline personality disorders.
“I understand there is really a mental health issue and I’m glad you’re in a much better position than you were. And that’s terrific for lots of reasons,” Boasberg said. “But you have an uphill battle though, because the conduct on Jan. 6 shown in the video is egregious and your history is extremely concerning. The conduct in multiple locations around the country is alarming to me..”
Munafo’s attorney said his client is now on medication and he has seen a “marked change” in the last year. Munafo even began practicing meditation and developing a spiritual practice, his attorney said. The mental health issues were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I’m hopeful mental health treatment is helping you,” Boasberg addressed Munafo Tuesday. “But, wow, you sure were engaging in a host of conduct that is hard for me [to ignore]. There’s different states, different people, different victims. I just can’t see something where I would trust to release here.”
Munafo has pleaded not guilty to the charges tied to Jan. 6. He meets next with the judge in D.C. in two weeks and his trial is expected to kick off in July.