Feds say Auburn man jailed in Jan. 6 Capitol Riot too dangerous to be released

As federal officials continue their prosecution of hundreds of suspects from the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, authorities are urging a judge in Washington, D.C., to keep an Auburn man in jail as a danger to the community who has a lengthy criminal history.

In a stern, 27-page filing made Thursday night in federal court in Washington, D.C., Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Strain argues that Sean McHugh was a leader of the alleged insurrectionists who urged them to move toward police and that he traveled from Sacramento to the U.S. Capitol equipped with a megaphone, a holster and a large can of bear spray that could cause permanent eye damage.

“FBI agents identified the defendant in several videos encouraging others to engage in disruptive and disorderly conduct, assaulting law enforcement officers by encouraging and helping other rioters push a large sign into a line of officers, scuffling with an officer in an attempt to defeat a barricade, and spraying an unknown chemical into a line of officers,” the prosecutor wrote in response to a motion seeking McHugh’s release from custody pending the outcome of his case.

“Several videos show multiple instances where McHugh is at the front of rioters encouraging the crowd with his megaphone (recovered in the search of the defendant’s home) to intimidate officers and approach police lines while officers attempt to fend off rioters from breaching various barricades,” the filing states, adding that McHugh shouted “various obscenities” at officers.

‘You guys like protecting pedophiles?’

“You guys like protecting pedophiles?” McHugh yells through the megaphone, court filings say. “You’re protecting communists. I’d be shaking in your little s--- boots, too.”

McHugh, 34, is currently being held without bail in the Sacramento County Main Jail, following a June 1 order by U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman in federal court in Sacramento that found McHugh to be a danger to the community and a flight risk.

“This isn’t the situation where the guy had a few beers and went out and did something stupid,” Newman said at the hearing. “He flew across the country and was involved in this incident and involving it with bear spray and firing up the crowd, etc.

“So that’s a significant concern.”

McHugh, the only one of four Sacramento-area residents charged in the insurrection who remains in custody, has petitioned the court in Washington to allow his release, and his federal public defender has described him as a “non-risk” who could agree to not travel, use social media and be monitored by GPS.

“The allegations arising out of January 6, 2021, are a one-off,” Assistant Federal Public Defender Maria Jacob wrote in a filing last week seeking McHugh’s release. “Americans, encouraged by the then-President of the United States, fed off of each other and there is little likelihood of such an occurrence again.”

A June 25 hearing has been scheduled in Washington to determine whether McHugh can be released, but prosecutors are arguing that McHugh’s extensive criminal history and his actions in Washington, where he stayed from Jan. 5 through Jan. 7, show he was prepared for conflict.

He came to Capitol with megaphone and bear spray

“McHugh brought to the Capitol a megaphone, bear spray, and a holster,” prosecutors wrote. “The short travel reservation combined with the items McHugh chose to pack suggests that the defendant’s only purpose in coming to D.C. was to participate in an anticipated violent riot.

“The defendant came to D.C. prepared for conflict carrying a ‘conventional dangerous weapon’ of chemical spray for offensive use.”

McHugh is charged with six felonies and two misdemeanors, including assaulting a law enforcement officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon and physical violence on Capitol grounds.

Prosecutors say McHugh is on various videos that show him deploying bear spray at police officers and scuffling with an officer to try and get past a metal barricade.

“Photographs and video demonstrate that defendant McHugh was constantly at the front of the rioters, directly confronting police officers,” court filings say. “McHugh was anything but a passive observer.

“He was an active aggressor who consistently used his megaphone to encourage his fellow rioters. In this way, he assumed a de facto leadership role in the assault and likely inspired further criminal conduct on the part of others.

June 25 hearing may decide if he stays in jail

Prosecutors say they plan to present video evidence during next Friday’s hearing that will show him pushing a large metal sign against officers.

“Likewise, video evidence will show that at least two officers reacted adversely to being sprayed by McHugh and that he deliberately directed the spray toward law enforcement,” court filings say. “McHugh’s violent, felonious actions place him in the category of defendants that the Court of Appeals explicitly recognized as eligible for detention.”

The hearing comes as the FBI continues to seek information about suspects in the Jan. 6 riot, which led to the deaths of at least five people and injuries to numerous police officers. To date, 488 individuals have been charged in connection with the riot, which followed a speech on the mall by then-President Donald Trump.

The Justice Department has continued this week to release body camera videos of violent encounters between rioters and police, even as some Republican members of Congress have downplayed the events of that day, which led to the National Guard surrounding the Capitol and fencing off much of downtown Washington.

Although many suspects were identified and charged a short time after the riot, McHugh was not arrested until May 27, and court filings say the FBI conducted surveillance on his Auburn home, noting that he was seen driving his girlfriend’s truck from his home “multiple times” despite the fact that he does not have a valid driver’s license.

Court papers also say that McHugh’s Facebook page was “only recently identified” and that it “contains references to the (Second Amendment) and the overthrowing of the constitution.”

“His profile also states, ‘Shall not be infringed! 2A spells it out clearly,’” according to court papers, which include a photo from Facebook of McHugh aiming a rifle with a scope affixed to it.

Prosecutors also note that McHugh was on probation for driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license “when he attacked officers at the Capitol.”

“For someone who is only 34, McHugh has a remarkably long and disturbing criminal history spanning back to when he presented false identification to a police officer when he was only 16,” court papers say. “Over time, his crimes have escalated with his first felony conviction for vehicle theft in 2006.

“His criminal history includes violent offenses ranging from vandalism, malicious destruction of private property, burglary, domestic violence, distribution of controlled substances, resisting arrest, and three prior rape offenses...

“The vast majority of these offenses occurred while McHugh was on probation and being supervised (just like the instant offense). Prior court-ordered conditions have failed to protect the community from McHugh and have failed to dissuade the defendant from committing further crimes.”

Defense attorney downplays client’s criminal past

McHugh’s attorney painted a vastly different picture of her client, saying in court filings that he is a lifelong Sacramento-area resident, father and a steadily employed construction worker studying to get his contractor’s license.

She also disputed that McHugh sprayed any officers with bear spray, writing that screen shots filed in court “do not show what was sprayed or whether the spray in fact reached or hurt anyone.”

“The individual in the screen shot is not close to any law enforcement officers when releasing the spray,” McHugh’s attorney wrote, adding that another photograph “does not portray Mr. McHugh ‘ramming’ anything into anyone.”

“Many protesters carry a megaphone to be loud and its use does not necessarily mean they are leaders,” she added. “Mr. McHugh was not a part of the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, or any other identified organization.

“Having and using a megaphone does not suggest he is a danger to the community.”

Jacob also argued that McHugh’s criminal history “is not recent and consists of mostly misdemeanor convictions.”

“Many of his prior arrests are a decade old and some have unknown dispositions and are not convictions,” she wrote, noting that he was not involved in any transgressions in the five months before his arrest following the Capitol Riot.

Prosecutors disagreed that McHugh can be safely released back to the community.

“McHugh’s violent words and actions at the Capitol were captured on film, both body-worn camera footage and publicly available video,” court filings say. “McHugh’s bear spray, holster, and megaphone were recovered in the search of is home.

“He cannot dispute that these events occurred. The weight of the evidence thus strongly supports a finding that no conditions of release would protect the community.”

Charges against three other Sacramento-area residents — former GOP activist Jorge Riley, Arbuckle home designer Valerie Ehrke and Rocklin resident Tommy Frederick Allan — are pending.

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 11:28 AM with the headline "Feds say Auburn man jailed in Jan. 6 Capitol Riot too dangerous to be released."