Two East Texas Men Accused in Capitol Riots Appear in Court For Plea Offers
Two men from East Texas that were arrested for their part in the January 6 Capitol riots had one of their days in court on Wednesday. However, neither is ready to plead in their cases. 34-year-old Alex Kirk Harkrider of Carthage and 30-year-old Ryan Taylor Nichols of Longview appeared on Zoom for their court date with Federal Judge Thomas Hogan this morning. The goal was to get their plea deals entered, but it didn't go as planned.
Ryan is considering and negotiating a plea agreement, while Alex has all together rejected his plea offer. Both men traveled to Washington D.C. for the January 6 Capitol riot and are charged in a 13-count indictment. Ryan's attorney told the judge in the case that he needed more cooperation from the jail so that he could review discovery evidence. Judge Hogan advised that he would reach out to the jail and request that they be more cooperative.
Alex on the other hand was released from jail in April but with an ankle monitor. However Alex complained about having to pay $110 a month stating that it was a financial burden for him. Judge Hogan allowed it to be removed agreeing with his attorney that Alex could be tracked without an ankle monitor.
I am going to have to go back and look at history and see how these things were handled before because I hope you do realize that the January 6th Capitol Riots were not the first time this country has seen something like this. I'll give you one example, the Boston Tea party. That was a political riot. The bad thing about that is the people got mad at Britain for doing what they agreed on, to be taxed. I personally think it is ridiculous that one group can be upset with the government and tear up building, harm others and get really violent with police and all they get is a slap on the wrist while other people are just trying to live a normal life and get gunned down, bullied or assaulted for nothing.