Joshua Macias, Arrested Outside Convention Center During 2020 Vote Count, Should Be Back In Jail After Proud Boys Meeting, DA Krasner Says
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Virginia man arrested outside of the Pennsylvania Convention Center while votes were being counted in the 2020 election needs to be back in jail, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Monday. Krasner's office asked the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to hold Joshua Macias in criminal contempt after Macias met with the leaders of the extremist groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys the day before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Macias was arrested along with Antonio LaMotta, both of Chesapeake, Virginia, on Nov. 5 outside of the Convention Center. Police say the two parked a Hummer a few blocks away that had an AR-style rifle, ammunition and QAnon stickers on it. According to police, Macias was carrying a gun licensed in Virginia, while LaMotta had an unlicensed firearm on his person.
The DA's Office says Macias violated the court's pre-trial conditions by posting support for Bianca Garcia, who was then a state legislative candidate in Texas, online. A video presented during the first public hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection shows Macias and Garcia meeting with the leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers in an underground garage on Jan. 5. The group was allegedly talking about plans for the next day.
Krasner says it proves Macias violated the conditions of his bail and he wants him held in contempt of court.
"The crimes we allege against Joshua Macias were always extremely serious, and as prosecutors, we have an obligation to continuously review this case as new facts and information come to light," Krasner said. "What we now allege is as follows: Macias, heavily armed, traveled from Virginia to Philadelphia on November 5, 2020, in an effort to interfere with the counting of presidential votes, motivated by his anti-democratic wish to preserve the power of Donald Trump, who lost re-election decisively. One month later, after he was released on cash bail over the Commonwealth's objection, Macias attended a small, secretive meeting that included two persons now federally indicted for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol insurrection.
"What we now allege is as follows: Macias, heavily armed, traveled from Virginia to Philadelphia on Nov. 5, 2020, in an effort to interfere with the counting of presidential votes, motivated by his anti-democratic wish to preserve the power of Donald Trump, who lost re-election decisively. One month later, after he was released on cash bail over the Commonwealth's objection, Macias attended a small, secretive meeting that included two persons now federally indicted for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Capitol insurrection.
"Given all that we now know and can infer about what Joshua Macias intended -- from the time he traveled loaded for bear from Virginia to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, to his participation in a clandestine, pre-insurrection parking garage meeting in Washington, D.C., to his actions on the Capitol grounds themselves on January 6th -- we must act. It is logical to infer that Joshua Macias participated in what is likely the greatest crime ever perpetrated against American democracy. In my opinion, Macias' disdain and contempt for American democracy and our institutions including the courts is clear. We respectfully request that the Court find him in contempt and order him detained for the maximum penalty of five months and 29 days incarceration in Philadelphia County immediately. His trial on the underlying charges is listed for October 2022."
A contempt hearing is scheduled for this Friday.
