A judge ruled that a Capitol rioter who allegedly beat police officers during the deadly Jan. 6 riot must remain in jail pre-trial after he attempted to flee the country to Switzerland.
Judge Emmet Sullivan said Jeffrey Sabol was too dangerous to release due to the flight risk and because he might continue his fight against “perceived tyranny” once he is out of jail, CNN reports.
According to court documents obtained by CNN, Sabol, a geophysicist took drastic steps in the wake of the attack because he “reached a mental breaking point,” and was “paranoid that he was going to be charged with sedition.”
After the insurrection, he went home to Colorado and tried to remove all evidence that could place him at the Capitol then traveled to Boston, Mass. and booked a flight to Switzerland, where he believed he would be protected from extradition.
He abandoned that plan after seeing law enforcement at the airport and instead rented a car and traveled south. On the trip, he got rid of his cell phone because he thought he was being tracked.
He was pulled over in New York “covered in blood” from self-inflicted cuts on his arms and thighs and told officers that he was “wanted by the FBI” because “I was fighting tyranny in the DC Capitol.”
He was taken into custody on January 15 and has been in jail ever since. Sabol was charged with eight misdemeanor and felony offenses. He has not yet entered a plea, CNN reports.
