A federal judge has denied bond for a Michigan man charged in connection with this month’s riot at the nation’s Capitol.
During a detention hearing Monday, assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Moon called 29-year-old Michael Foy “one of the most violent of the capitol rioters.”
Moon showed video and still photos purporting to show Foy allegedly striking a Capitol police officer ten times with a hockey stick during the riot.
He also allegedly threw a sharpened pole at officers guarding the Capitol building entrance.
Prosecutors claim Michael Foy rallied some of his fellow rioters after they were first repelled by Capitol security.
Defense Attorney Colleen Fitzharris sought to convince the federal judge to grant Foy bail.
“When we look beyond a single day in a 30 year life, you can see this was aberrant behavior," Fitzharris told the judge. "Completely out of character.”
Fitzharris asked the judge to allow Foy to be released into his mother’s custody so he could pursue mental health treatment. Attorneys say Michael Foy suffers from depression and PTSD related to his five years as a U.S. Marine. Foy is reportedly on suicide watch.
But the judge decided Foy presented a “danger” to himself and the community if he was allowed to post bond.
Foy faces face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted on the most serious of four felony counts against him.
More than a hundred people have been arrested for their roles in the January 6 insurrection that left five people dead and left the Capitol building heavily damaged.
