Ex-police officer charged in Capitol riots appears in court
Ex-Houston Police Department officer Tam Pham walks out of the federal courthouse in downtown Houston on Thursday after he appeared in court to face federal charges tied to the riots at the U.S. Capitol. Pham was released on bail.
A federal judge in Houston ordered the release Thursday of a former Houston Police Department officer charged this week in connection with the U.S. Capitol riots.
Tam Pham, who surrendered Wednesday on two misdemeanor charges, was released from custody and ordered to surrender his U.S. and Vietnamese passports. He walked out of a Southern District of Texas courthouse on Rusk Street around 5 p.m. with his lawyer. His next court appearance is slated for Feb. 11 in Washington, D.C., although federal authorities may allow him to appear remotely to avoid traveling amid the pandemic.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances H. Stacy ordered Pham’s release on bail and asked that he return to the downtown Houston courthouse Friday to pay a $2,500 deposit.
In a Zoom call, the judge noted that Pham was wearing “street clothes” — a white buttoned-up shirt and white face covering — in the federal courtroom.
She prohibited Pham from contacting possible victims or witnesses from the Jan. 6 insurrection that has led to federal charges against more than 100 people across the country.
Nicole DeBorde, Pham’s criminal defense lawyer, said his quick release was because the charges against him are low-level offenses — at least less severe than what other accused rioters are facing after the deadly violence.
Pham’s charges are knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Others arrested face charges ranging from carrying dangerous weapons to assault of a federal officer. Five people died in the attack, including a rioter and a U.S. Capitol Police officer.
Prosecutors will have to prove whether Pham had a “clear understanding” and knew that he was not supposed to enter the Capitol building, DeBorde said.
According to court documents, Pham told FBI agents that he followed a large crowd to the building, crossed a barricade and a knocked-over fence and ignored a group of police officers. He then entered the building and took pictures of himself as insurrectionists milled about the Rotunda.
Time stamps on his photos placed him in the Capitol building from at least 2:50 p.m. to 2:59 p.m. — more than a half-hour after the mob breached the building and forced lawmakers into hiding during the Electoral College vote certification. By the time Pham’s photos had been taken, a rioter had been shot and killed near the House chamber.
Pham, who served with HPD for 18 years, is not allowed to posses firearms as the case proceeds, the judge ordered. The former officer told the magistrate that he does not have any guns in his house, which he shares with his wife and children. He is not required to wear GPS monitoring while out on bail, the judge stated.
DeBorde has said her client is a devout Buddhist who does not share the same political ideology as those who violently breached the Capitol.
“He believes that President Biden was elected in a free and fair election,” she said this week.
Police officials have since started an audit of Pham’s arrests and his body-worn camera footage from over the years to check for possible irregularities.