WASHINGTON, DC - An Iowa man facing charges in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol is asking to be released from custody.
Doug Jensen of Des Moines is facing numerous charges in the riot, and is identified in a video that day chasing a Capitol Police Officer.
He now says he was tricked into believing misinformation from the group Q-Anon and numerous internet conspiracy theories, and was only there to observe events.
Jensen is scheduled to go before a judge in Washington today at 9 a.m. Iowa time, and may be attempting to reach a plea deal.
A ten-page motion filed by Jensen's Washington based attorney says in part that "he fell victim to this barrage of internet sourced info and came to the Capitol, at the direction of the President of the United States (former President Donald Trump), to demonstrate that he was a “true patriot.” Six months later, languishing in a DC Jail cell, locked down most of the time, he feels deceived, recognizing that he bought into a pack of lies."
Charges against Jensen were elevated after his initial arrest in January after prosecutors said he still followed debunked far-right conspiracy theories, including from Q-Anon, which argued that that former President Trump was fighting satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles at the highest level of government.
Jensen is also accused of possessing a knife during the U.S. Capitol riot.
The notion filed by his attorney says, "allowing Mr. Jensen to go to work and remain in home detention more than adequately satisfies any concern for community safety."