Judge To Issue Bench Warrant for No-Show Jan. 6 Rioter Accused of Assaulting Police

Source: Huff Post

Nov 13, 2024, 02:17 PM EST | Updated an hour ago


Lee Stutts, a former U.S. Marine accused of assaulting police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, failed to appear in court on Wednesday — prompting a federal judge to tell his attorney that a bench warrant will be issued for Stutts’ arrest before the end of the day.

She also alluded cryptically to threats Stutts may have made against himself and others. “We’re missing one key person,” U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan remarked to Stutts’ defense attorney Stanley Woodward as she glanced around the courtroom.

Chutkan did not go into specifics about the threats, but said Stutts had expressed “homicidal and suicidal” sentiments, including statements about threatening to “kill people in this courtroom,” she said.

The 46-year-old North Carolina man is facing 15 charges, including for assaulting, resisting or impeding officers at the Capitol and using a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors say footage from the Capitol attack shows Stutts hoisting a large metal billboard with Donald Trump’s name on it and using it as a battering ram against police. He is also accused of using a bike rack to assault police.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/judge-to-issue-bench-warrant-for-no-show-jan-6-rioter-accused-of-assaulting-police_n_6734f074e4b07b3c594851c9