During a hearing Tuesday afternoon on Sullivan’s release conditions, Magistrate’s Judge Robin Meriweather in Washington divided the difference between prosecutors who want to eliminate Sullivan’s presence on the United States ‘most popular social media platforms, and a defense attorney who stated what he said was’ an assault was. on his client’s constitutional rights.
“I reject the broader ban on Twitter and Facebook and encrypted social media platforms,” Meriweather said, also recommending that Sullivan be associated with GPS 24 hours a day.
However, the judge said Sullivan “will no longer work for Insurgence USA”, will monitor his internet use by probation officers, and that he will be banned from using any social media platforms to commit riots, violent protests, armed conflict or violence awake. He is also in house custody.
Sullivan is one of the more prominent figures charged in the Capitol riot, due to interviews he conducted with news agencies such as CNN, and a heated debate over whether he is an Antifa challenger. Figures like former President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani cited Sullivan as proof that leftists were part of the mob that stormed the Capitol. Liberal activists denounced the allegations as disinformation.
Sullivan’s politics remain dark. He described himself as an opponent of Trump and a supporter of Black Lives Matter. However, BLM activists in Utah dismissed him, saying he intended to provoke violence during protests. They also noted that Sullivan often seems to work with his brother, James, who spoke at a right-wing Proud Boys event.
Defense attorney Steven Kiersh condemned the prosecutor’s initial proposal as excessively excessive and insensitive to the role that Facebook and Twitter play in the lives of many young people.
“The social media boundaries are incredibly oppressive, incredibly overarching and serve nothing but to basically oppress Mr. Sullivan,” Kiersh said. “Mr Sullivan is very involved in exchanging ideas with his peers, and that’s how he does it.”
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Candice Wong used Kiersh’s suggestion that John Sullivan use Twitter and Facebook like the others his age. “The accused’s presence on social media … does not read like a typical social media presence at the age of 20,” she said. “It’s not about the weather. It’s not about communicating with friends. ”
Kiersh insisted there was “no connection” between Insurgence USA and the crimes Sullivan is accused of, despite selling the video footage of the Capitol riot to major news agencies.
However, Wong maintained that Sullivan’s social media presence was an integral part of his activities on January 6 and earlier violent protests in which he was involved.
“Insurgence USA is absolutely the instrumentality with which Mr. Sullivan committed the acts in question,” she said. “This is Mr. Sullivan’s reason why he was there and for his criminal involvement in the riot. ‘
At one point during the trial, Meriweather questioned whether Sullivan’s videos were protesting or rioting. “There is a distinction,” she said.
Wong said Sullivan’s videos unequivocally encourage violence and attacks on police. According to her, he serves as a kind of expert resource for rioters. ‘
“Under the guise of journalism … he is engaged in violent activities and incitement, including the kind of destructive society we saw on January 6,” the prosecutor said. She said that Twitter and Facebook wanted to block some of Sullivan’s accounts, but that he had a variety of handles that promoted each other.
Wong also noted that the request to ban Sullivan from Twitter and Facebook was actually narrower than the conditions a magistrate in Utah imposed on Sullivan, which banned him from using 13 different websites or platforms. She also mentioned that Sullivan’s former lawyer agreed.
“I can not explain why the attorneys representing Mr. Sullivan in Utah agree to these terms,” Kiersh said.