A federal judge in D.C. reversed a Tennessee magistrate judge’s decision on Sunday, ordering that Eric Gavelek Munchel – the Capitol riot suspect dubbed “zip tie guy” – be held without bond until trial. On Friday, Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Frensley had ruled Munchel wasn’t a flight risk or danger to the public, and had allowed him to be released from federal custody as early as Monday. Munchel was photographed climbing through the Senate chamber.
NASHVILLE — A federal judge on Sunday blocked the release of a Tennessee man who authorities say carried flexible plastic handcuffs during the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell for the District of Columbia set aside an order by a judge in
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A federal judge has blocked the release of a man who was arrested after he was pictured carrying zip ties around the Congressional chamber during the riots at the US Capitol.
Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, was arrested alongside his mother Lisa Eisenhart, 57, on 10 January and charged with conspiracy after he was seen wearing a tactical vest and carrying zip ties in the Capitol, alongside a mob of pro-Trump rioters on 6 January.
At a hearing last week in Tennessee, magistrate judge Jeffrey Frensley ordered that Mr Munchel could be released from custody on Monday.
Judge Frensley felt that Mr Munchel was not a flight risk and posed no harm to the public, despite claims by prosecutors that his offences were serious enough for him to be retained in custody pending trial.
A man who was allegedly seen storming the U.S. Capitol with tactical hand restraints must remain in jail after his release order was blocked by a Washington, D.C. judge.
Eric Munchel, 30, was arrested last week after online researchers accused him of being the person photographed with so-called Zip Ties during the siege on Capitol Hill earlier this month.
Since the insurrection, Munchel has earned the label of Zip Tie Guy. Law enforcement interviewed Munchel and identified that he was carrying a black and yellow Taser Pulse taser that emits electrical shock, FBI Special Agent Carlos D. Fontanez explained in an affidavit that was filed following his arrest.