WASHINGTON — A Florida man accused of interfering with police during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol is connected to a “network” of supporters who helped other Capitol riot suspects avoid arrest by the FBI, they said prosecutors in a court that filed this document. week.
A federal judge ordered Thursday that Thomas Paul Osborne be released from a Florida prison as he awaits trial on charges that he grabbed a police officer’s baton during a mob attack on the Capitol. Before the judge ruled, a Justice Department prosecutor argued that Osborne is at risk of fleeing after his Feb. 22 arrest.
Osborne harbored a Jan. 6 defendant, Christopher Worrell, who disappeared last year after being convicted of attacking police with pepper spray during the Capitol riot, prosecutors said. They believe Worrell, a member of the extremist group Proud Boys, lived at Osborne’s home in Lakeland, Florida, for about six weeks while he was on the run.
Prosecutors also cited Osborne’s ties to the family of Jonathan Pollock and Olivia Pollock — a brother and sister from Lakeland who were declared fugitives after being charged with crimes in connection with the Capitol riot. Osborne traveled with the Pollocks and their parents to Washington DC to attend then-President Donald Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ rally at the White House on January 6.
In January 2024, FBI agents arrested the Pollocks and a third fugitive, Joseph Hutchinson, at a ranch in Groveland, Florida. Jonathan Pollock had been at large for more than two years. Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson were on the run for about 10 months after tampering with their court-ordered GPS monitoring equipment.
Osborne worked at a gun shop owned by a brother of the Pollock siblings and attended the same church and prayer meetings as members of the Pollock family, according to prosecutors.
Federal authorities believe that relatives of the Pollocks helped the siblings avoid capture. Supporters gave them money and supplies and helped them “by coordinating a network of individuals willing and able to provide them with shelter,” prosecutors said in a lawsuit. Authorities have not accused Osborne of harboring the Pollocks, but cited his ties to the family. as a reason to fear that he might go into hiding.
“While Osborne may not have a passport or foreign ties,” prosecutors wrote, “the concerns posed by his access to the Pollocks network are the same: he has the means to flee and avoid detection by law enforcement.”
Osborne’s attorneys accused prosecutors of engaging in “guilt by association” to argue that he, like the Pollocks and Hutchinson, is a flight risk. Attorney Sylvia Irvin said Osborne initially tried to turn himself in to face possible charges against the Capitol in July 2021, a day after Olivia Pollock and Hutchinson were initially arrested.
“He wasn’t hiding. He didn’t run away,” Irvin told the judge.
Osborne is charged with four charges, including a civil disorder offense and three misdemeanors. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday.
FBI agents found several weapons, wrapped “go-bags” and some of Worrell’s belongings when they searched Osborne’s home in December 2023.
After his conviction, but before his sentencing, Worrell cut off his GPS monitor and disappeared in August 2023. The FBI arrested him the following month at his girlfriend’s house in Florida, about a two-hour drive from where Osborne lived. Worrell was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison.
A federal magistrate judge in Tampa, Florida, initially ordered Osborn to remain in custody. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., overruled the magistrate and ordered Osborne to remain confined to a sister’s home in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, after his release from prison.
The judge warned Osborne of the consequences if he flees.
“There is no point in running away because you will get caught eventually,” Mehta said during Thursday’s remote hearing. “Running only makes things worse.”