Steve Neavling
Michael Joseph Foy draped in an American flag at a pro-Trump rally in Detroit in November.
A federal judge on Monday denied bond for the 30-year-old former Marine from Michigan who is accused of beating police officers with a hockey stick before climbing through a broken window at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Michael Joseph Foy will remain in jail as his case proceeds, U.S. Magistrate Patricia Morris ordered after watching graphic videos of the Wixom man assaulting police at the steps of the Capitol.
"Michael Foy is among the most violent of the rioters that day," Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Moon said at the hearing, which was broadcast on Zoom.
Prosecutors argued Foy is a danger to the public and himself, saying he is suicidal, abuses alcohol, and struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"There is no condition or combination of conditions that can satisfactorily allay the danger that he poses," Morris said at the hearing.
Because of his depression and nonviolent history, Foy's attorney Colleen Fitzharris said his client should be released on bond to the care of his mother. Fitzharris inisted Foy was a law-abiding veteran “with a steady history of compliant, law-abiding behavior,” and he was swept up by the “mob mentality” of rioters.
“He didn’t go to D.C. to cause violence,” Fitzharris said, failing to explain why Foy brought a hockey stick.
Foy has been active in protests against the election. He attended a rally at the TCF Center in Detroit on Nov. 6 and a “Stop the Steal” protest in Lansing on Nov. 14.
Foy was arrested last week and charged with felony counts of assaulting an officer, interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder, obstructing an official proceeding, and entering a restricting building with the intent to disrupt government business while carrying a dangerous weapon.
Foy is the second Michigan suspect arrested by the FBI for allegedly storming the Capitol. Karl Dresch, who sold right-wing paraphernalia out of his Calumet home, was arrested last week after photos showed him inside the Capitol.
Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.
