After a pitched battle between federal prosecutors and Jan. 6 defendant William Pope, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras has agreed to delay Pope’s trial, saying it could be a waste of resources given the possible issuance of pardons by President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Pope, 38, of Topeka, Kansas, was scheduled to begin trial in Washington, D.C., Dec. 2 on five criminal charges, including a felony civil disorder count and four misdemeanors.
“I'm relieved that my four-year battle with the government is almost over,” Pope told Blaze News. “I'm going to win.”
Contreras adopted Pope’s reasoning from a Nov. 13 filing that said a long trial would be a waste of court resources given the post-election realities in Washington, D.C.
“Unfortunately, the prosecutor’s facial expressions won’t make it into the court transcript,” Pope wrote on X after the court’s ruling.
Judge Contreras has granted my motion to continue my trial because he agreed a long trial was not a good use of judicial resources considering the likelihood of January 6 charges being dropped. No new date has been set yet, but we'll have a status hearing in 30 days.…
— 🇺🇸 (@FreeStateWill) November 14, 2024
Regarding Contreras' decision to delay Pope's trial, Daniel Ball, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Attorney's Office, told Blaze News: "No comment."
Over more than 45 months, Pope, publisher of the news site Free State Kansas, has run circles around the government. He got three of his original eight charges dropped and exposed the potentially extensive presence of FBI agents and informants in the crowd.
Pope also brought to light the misconduct of undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers, forcing prosecutors to admit in March 2023 that officer Nicholas Tomasula acted as a provocateur in the crowd on the west side of the Capitol.
In his Nov. 13 response to the court, Pope said continued prosecution of his case ignored the political realities created by Trump’s landslide Nov. 5 re-election victory.
“The government’s continued prosecution of me is also a continued prosecution of President Trump’s elected mandate, which is a prosecution of the will of the people,” Pope wrote. “The government should cease their attack on democracy immediately!”
'They had received reports that the individuals were carrying weapons.'
Pope cited the DOJ’s refusal to apply the same standards as those used by special prosecutor Jack Smith when he asked the judge in Trump’s Jan. 6 case to vacate all scheduled court dates. The DOJ said the “unprecedented circumstance” cited by Smith should not apply to all January Sixers.
“To entertain this argument, one must first be blind to the will of the American people who just elected President Trump to carry out his mandate to end the January 6 prosecutions,” Pope wrote. “However, these facts cannot be ignored. The circumstances in my case are inseparable from the election of President Trump.”
Pope won a court order to make a tour of the U.S. Capitol as part of his trial preparations. The Oct. 20 tour was attended by three FBI agents, two federal prosecutors, and legal counsel for U.S. Capitol Police.
In addition to dozens of battles on his own case docket, Pope has advocated for fellow Jan. 6 defendants and provided material that has been cited in many other defense cases.
Metropolitan Police Department undercover officers Ricardo Leiva (left) and Michael Callahan look out on the West Plaza crowd on Jan. 6, 2021. Defendant William Pope exposed their activities and those of other undercover officers at the U.S. Capitol.Metropolitan Police Department via William Pope/U.S. District Court
He identified MPD undercover officer Ryan Roe, who apparently encountered a suspect known only as #FenceCutterBulwark while he cut down temporary green plastic fencing on Capitol grounds. “Appreciate it, brother,” Roe was heard to say to #FenceCutterBulwark on video.
In previous filings, Pope described several self-identified Antifa supporters who were allegedly intercepted by undercover MPD officers, including one who was carrying a gun.
MPD officers reportedly made a traffic stop at 10:15 a.m. on Jan. 6 of a vehicle containing three Antifa operatives: Jonathan Kelly, Logan Grimes, and Dempsey Mikula.
“Undercover officers who stopped their vehicle said they had received reports that the individuals were carrying weapons,” Pope wrote. “No footage of this incident has been produced by the government in discovery. However, Kelly livestreamed part of the police stop to Facebook.”
Metropolitan Police arrested Grimes, who identifies as a woman and uses the name Leslie, for carrying a pistol without a license and being in possession of a high-capacity magazine and unregistered ammunition. The charge was dropped on Jan. 7, 2021.
Pope also brought attention to the dozens of members of the Ohio-based Salt & Light Brigade, including the highly visible provocateur activities of Pastor William Dunfee. Using a bullhorn on the East Plaza, Dunfee urged protesters to storm the Capitol. Video shows him celebrating outside the historic Columbus Doors after protesters forced their way into the Capitol.
After Dunfee's activities were exposed, the FBI arrested him in October 2022. He was indicted in early 2023 and found guilty of three counts in a January 2024 bench trial. One of the counts was later dismissed based on the Supreme Court ruling in Fischer v. United States. Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Dunfee to 30 months in prison on Sept. 19, 2024.
Pope sought to force the government to unseal more U.S. Capitol Police security video than was made public by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his successor, Mike Johnson.
He posted dozens of hours of bodycam footage on his Rumble page that was not restricted by the government as “sensitive.” He pointed out dozens of security cameras whose footage was apparently missing from the Capitol Police database held by Congress.
Pope got prosecutors to admit that the “parading” misdemeanor charge against him was brought because he carried an American flag on Jan. 6 “in support or disapproval of a particular viewpoint.”
“Biden has made the American flag and wrongthink a crime!” Pope said in May 2024.
Under Title 40 U.S. Code §5104, a person may not “parade, stand or move in processions or assemblages in the grounds;” or “display in the grounds a flag, banner or device designed or adapted to bring into public notice a party, organization, or movement.”
Pope said he fully expects President-elect Trump to issue Jan. 6 pardons, but the solution to his case is much simpler.
“I believe that in my case the government should just be able to drop my charges,” he said.
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