'Trickle of evidence:' Attorneys for Cleveland man charged in Jan. 6 riot frustrated
WASHINGTON — A man from Cleveland, Tennessee man charged in the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol is frustrated with the delays.
Joseph Padilla is still in federal custody, and has been for nearly a year now.
During a status hearing with a federal court judge in Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning, Padilla's defense attorneys expressed frustrations over the 'trickle of evidence.'
Defense attorney Michael Cronkright said, “Frankly my client is extremely frustrated because he is a very intelligent man, eager to assist in his own defense and the communication is very limited. I couldn't send in local counsel because the jail has been on lockdown because of COVID.”
Padilla is facing several federal charges in connection to January 6th. He is accused of throwing a flagpole at Capitol police and pushing against a law enforcement barricade during the riot. Prosecutors say he posted on social media that he wasn't going to stop until he "dissolved the legislature and replaced it with Patriots."
At one point, Padilla can be heard telling the officer, "You're a f------ member of a machine that doesn't f------ care about you. But if you let us in there, that machine'll be gone and we will f------ protect you."
After waiting a beat, Padilla then says "You're being a moral coward. You are a moral coward, you know what you're doing is wrong."
More video shows Padilla putting his hands on the barricade and saying "it ain't stopping."
The video then cuts to a shot of Padilla grabbing the barricades while yelling "push!" as Capitol Police officers strike him with batons to get him to stop.
On Wednesday, the judge set another status hearing for April. He told the federal government there should be significant progress made by that time.
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