An Iowan accused of being one of the first to break into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 is asking for another chance at pre-trial release. Doug Jensen of Des Moines had been under home detention until he violated his release conditionsby accessing the internet. In a request filed Monday, an attorney for Jensen apologized on his behalf for breaking the rules while also taking issue with the judge's orders.
In a court filing with the U.S. District Court for D.C., Jensen's attorney Christopher Davis asked that his client be released to home detention, under a scaled-back ban that would bar him from social media, but not from using the internet entirely.
“Mr. Jensen requests that the Court reconsider its decision to revoke his bond. Though Mr. Jensen violated a direct Court order, at no time did he pose a danger to the community nor did he present a risk of flight,” Davis wrote.
It was internet conspiracy theories like QAnon that spurred Jensen to travel to Washington, D.C. and take part in the violent insurrection. Photos and videos of Jensen wearing a QAnon T-shirt and confronting law enforcement officers inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 were widely disseminated and seen around the world.
In video footage from that day, Jensen can be seen apparently leading a mob in chasing Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman up a flight of stairs towards the Senate chamber.
Jensen has been charged with seven counts for his alleged role in the attack, including obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer.
After being arrested, Jensen said disavowed the conspiracy theories, saying he’d bought into “a pack of lies” but no longer believed them.
But soon after a judge released him to home detention, he violated his release conditions by going online to watch a cyber symposium hosted by Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a vocal proponent of election conspiracies.
“Mr. Jensen did let the Court down by listening to news outlets that some may find puzzling. However, in the final analysis, his actions impacted no one but himself,” Davis wrote in the request filed Monday.
Davis asked the court to accept Jensen’s apology and said his time back in jail should serve as a sanction. However, the attorney argued that his client should be allowed some access to the internet, which he says is an “integral part” of modern life.
“Mr. Jensen requests that he be released to home detention with GPS monitoring, with a ban on utilizing social media. To ban his access to news outlets and information he apparently feels a need to consume is not only difficult to enforce, it also has an uncomfortable ring of Totalitarianism,” Davis wrote.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly has previously said he considers Jensen “unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of conditions of release."
