Judge orders accused rioter to stay in jail pending trial in Washington

A federal magistrate on Friday ordered that a man the FBI says is seen in videos using a baseball bat to smash two windows at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots be detained as a danger to the community.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan said Jorden Mink, 27, of South Fayette, will remain locked up pending trial on seven counts related to the Capitol breach that sent lawmakers scrambling to safety.

The FBI arrested Mr. Mink last week, and a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has since indicted him.

“This was a horrendous crime against our democracy that Mr. Mink not only participated in but was a very active and violent participant and maybe even a leader,” the judge said during a detention hearing held by video in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Mink’s lawyer, Michael Moser, said his client acted like a “jerk” and an “idiot” but argued that he is not a true threat to anyone.

But the government said he is, and the judge agreed.

She said evidence presented by the FBI shows he used a bat to smash

the windows, spat on police, used a flagpole to attack police, possessed guns, tried to buy other guns but was denied and posed with a gun on social media in the context of opposing the presidential election results.

“He put members of our government in fear of their lives because of his actions,” she said of the Jan. 6 actions.

Mr. Mink is one of three people in the Western District of Pennsylvania charged in connection with the attack.

FBI Agent Bryan Alfredo presented videos of Mr. Mink repeatedly smashing two Capitol windows with a bat, climbing inside and then handing out a chair and other items to the mob outside.

He faces charges of destruction of government property, theft of government property and other offenses.

FBI agents in Pittsburgh arrested him after receiving tips that Mr. Mink was among the rioters and further identified him by his distinctive tattoos on his neck and fingers. His fiancee also identified him.

Mr. Moser said his client is a “knucklehead” who got swept up in the frenzy of the crowd but is not an insurrectionist or political extremist.

But Agent Alfredo presented a post from a social media account on Election Day, Nov. 3, in which Mr. Mink poses while holding an assault-style weapon with an “I voted” sticker and the caption: “The ballot is stronger than the bullet,” attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Under that he wrote: “Well ... my magazines will be fully loaded just in case it’s not.”

When the FBI searched his property and vehicle, they found magazines for an AR-15 assault rifle in his car but did not find the weapon. He also was carrying a handgun at the time of his arrest but has a permit to carry, Agent Alfredo said. The agent said that Mr. Mink had tried to buy a gun on Jan. 9, three days after the Capitol riot, but was denied. He didn’t know why the purchase was denied. An earlier attempt was also denied, he said.

Agents also found a marijuana grow operation in the basement with 16 pot plants and a lighting and irrigation system. Mr. Mink’s fiancee, Lexie Otey, testified that she didn’t know anything about the marijuana and said the basement was locked and that she didn’t have a key. She said Mr. Mink had a substance abuse problem in the past but has been sober since December 2019.

The marijuana grow operation is the subject of a separate complaint brought by South Fayette police this week, but it is not part of the federal case.

In arguing for release, Mr. Moser said Mr. Mink was not accused of using guns during the Capitol attack and insisted his client was caught up in the moment.

“This isn’t a kid who is an extremist or a racist. There’s no hint of that,” he said. “That day was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a jerk and engage in that sort of behavior.”

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Soo Song said Mr. Mink intended to inflict damage and had no respect for the law.

“He was angry, he was inflamed, in the video you can see and hear him yelling [expletive] to Capitol police,” she said. “He is yelling [expletive] and spitting at the Capitol police.”

She said he put himself in the “middle of the violence” and is a “severe risk” to the community.

“We think this is a very clear case of danger,” she said.

Judge Lenihan on Thursday had released another accused rioter, Kenneth Grayson of Bridgeville. But his charges involved trespassing and none rose to the level of a crime of violence, so under the law the judge could not consider danger to the community as a grounds to hold him. She stayed the release to allow the government to appeal.

But the Mink case is different because one of the charges, destruction of government property, is defined as a crime of violence.