Military veteran charged in Capitol riot is ordered released from custody
BATON ROUGE, La. — A military veteran accused of attacking police officers with a baton during the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol was released Tuesday, a day after his arrest.
A federal prosecutor had argued for the pretrial detention of Edward Richmond Jr., a former U.S. Army soldier convicted of manslaughter about 20 years ago for fatally shooting a handcuffed civilian in Iraq.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lyman Thornton III said authorities found an AR-15 rifle and ammunition this week when they searched the home in Richmond, Louisiana. Richmond was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his criminal history, the prosecutor said.
Thornton said Richmond is a flight risk, a threat to the community and has a history of violence, including a “very aggressive attitude toward law enforcement.”
“I think January 6 was the culmination of deep-seated anger toward law enforcement,” Thornton said.
However, U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Wilder-Doomes ordered Richmond’s release from custody after a detention hearing attended by family members, including his 16-year-old son. Wilder-Doomes said Richmond has ties to the community and “seems to be a loving father.”
Attorney John McLindon said Richmond has not “hid or run” in the three years since the Capitol riot.
“My client has known about this problem for two years, and he did not flee,” McLindon said.
Richmond was arrested Monday in Baton Rouge on charges including civil disorder and assaulting, resisting or obstructing police with a dangerous weapon.
Richmond, 40, of Geismar, Louisiana, was wearing a helmet, shoulder pads, goggles and a Louisiana state flag patch on his chest when he attacked police in a tunnel outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a prosecutor’s affidavit FBI agent .
Richmond was 20 when an army court-martial convicted him of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced him to three years in prison for killing the handcuffed Iraqi civilian near Taal Al Jai in February 2004. Richmond was also given a dishonorable discharge from the army.
Richmond was initially charged with unpremeditated murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. But the panel of five officers and five enlisted men reduced the charge to voluntary manslaughter.
The army said Richmond shot Muhamad Husain Kadir, a cow herder, in the back of the head from about two meters away after the man stumbled. Richmond testified that he did not know Kadir was handcuffed and believed the Iraqi man would harm a fellow soldier.
More than 1,200 people have been charged with federal crimes related to January 6. More than 100 police officers were injured during the riot.
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Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed to this report.