Judge raps Jan. 6 defendant for travel to CPAC on ‘false pretenses’

A Jan. 6 defendant who spent two days at CPAC — mingling with other defendants and at least one member of Congress — drew a fierce rebuke from a federal judge, who said he misled her about his whereabouts when she granted his permission to come to Washington.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson tore into Gabriel Garcia, a Miami-based member of the Proud Boys who faces civil disorder and obstruction charges, for what she said was a pattern of defying court orders and violating the conditions of his pretrial release.

“You are finished making up your own rules,” Jackson said, ordering Garcia into home detention and indicating that any more violations would result in his immediate incarceration. She said he seemed to have “disdain” for the court’s orders and be “somewhat contemptuous” of her authority.

Jackson’s anger was fueled in part by what she said was a pattern of defiance by Garcia, whose release conditions require him to seek permission from the court anytime he travels outside of Florida. Jackson noted that she has repeatedly granted his requests to travel — both for business purposes and for pleasure. She had even granted a previous trip to attend an event in support of Jan. 6 defendants when he properly disclosed it.

Garcia had already flirted with defiance, obtaining Jackson’s permission to travel to Nashville, Tenn., for business in 2021 only for court officials to later discover he misled them about his activities. Though Jackson noted her displeasure at the time, she continued to grant Garcia permission to travel, demanding itineraries and details of his plans. But she noted that Garcia had been “on notice” since then of the court’s concern about his compliance.

But when Garcia made a short-notice request to come to Washington in early March, he said it was to sit in on Jan. 6 trials and to meet with his lawyer. He made no mention of attending CPAC, even though he had said on a podcast prior to the request that he wanted to attend the conference but was concerned about getting the court’s permission.

Jackson noted that despite his emergency request and her demand that he provide an itinerary for his travel, Garcia never mentioned what she said was the true purpose of his trip: to attend CPAC. There, Garcia said he spoke with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) about accessing thousands of hours of Capitol surveillance footage made available by Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Jackson also pointed to Garcia’s use of social media. He told followers that he had secured a ride on former President Donald Trump’s plane to CPAC and even appended pictures that appeared to be from “Trump Force One,” which Jackson said raised the alarm of pretrial services officers tasked with ensuring Garcia’s compliance with court orders.