Topekan Will Pope, indicted on federal charges stemming from the January 6, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol, has been invited to Washington, D. C. to attend the presidential inauguration January 20th.
Pope, a PhD candidate at Kansas State University, is not charged with violent crimes, so the trial judge is giving him permission to attend the ceremony. Pope is charged with felony civil disorder and four misdemeanors related to trespassing and protesting at the Capitol. He says he received an invitation to attend the event but will not disclose by whom.
We contacted Pope with a series of questions about that day and since, as he prepares for his return trip:
What are your recollections of January 6, 2021
“The scope of this question is more appropriate for a book. But for those who are interested, I’ve filed a lot of motions related to my recollections from the day, and I often post about January 6 on Twitter/X (@FreeStateWill). I will say that my immediate impression was much different than what was portrayed in the media, and I was not aware of many of the things that took place until much later. Once my case is resolved, I look forward to telling the full story.”
What did you do at the Capitol that day that resulted in your arrest?
“I was peacefully exercising First Amendment rights.”
What was your interpretation of President Trump’s remarks before you headed to the Capitol?
“At the time, I was teaching public speaking at Kansas State, so from a rhetorical perspective, I thought the speech was a bit anti-climactic and ran on too long. But from where I was standing, I couldn’t hear everything due to the reverberation in the sound system.”
What was your intention once you got to the Capitol?
I was there to exercise First Amendment rights.
Were you or any of your fellow protestors armed?
“My brother and I did not bring any guns to D.C.
“There are a handful of January 6 defendants who have been charged with bringing guns to the Capitol, but no defendant used a gun against police. I believe those who did bring firearms may have been concerned about their safety in Washington due to attacks on Trump supporters that occurred at the November 14 and December 12 rallies. It’s unfortunate that D.C. doesn’t respect the Second Amendment like we do in Kansas.
“There were some notable individuals who had guns who have not been charged. For instance, video shows Luke Robinson of Arizona with a gun in his waistband while he was climbing through the scaffolding. Strangely, the FBI removed Robinson from their Wanted List in 2021, and he has never been arrested.
“Logan Grimes, who self-identifies as ANTIFA, was arrested for possession of a handgun on the morning of January 6 after infiltrating the crowd at the Ellipse, but his charges were dropped by the DOJ the very next day.
“As my court filings show, there were also some undercover DEA agents who were stopped by D.C. police who spotted their concealed weapons. And we know from videos produced in discovery that other undercover operatives were carrying guns in the crowd at the Capitol.”
Were you close in proximity to Ashli Babbitt when she was killed by the Capitol police officer?
“No. I was no longer in the Capitol when Ashli was shot. That false rumor was unfortunately started by the amateur reporters at the Kansas Reflector. I did witness the moment Ashli entered the Capitol, and I have since met with her mom and spoken with her husband.”
Have you read the book on Ashli Babbitt written by Jack Cashill? If so, what is your opinion of it?
“No. Cashill did reach out to me a while back, but I haven’t had the time to read his book. I’m very particular about getting the facts of January 6 correct, so I do not endorse January 6 books unless I have been able to check the information first.”
Approximately how much in legal expense have you incurred?
“Initially, I hired an incompetent attorney here in Topeka, but soon after that I opted for court-appointed counsel. Then I began representing myself in 2022. So, what I’ve paid to attorneys is minimal, but representing myself has drained my savings and prevented me from pursuing other opportunities.”
What has been the legal process you have faced?
The scope of this question is also more appropriate for a book than a paragraph, but essentially, I’ve spent the last four years battling the government in court. Many of my early battles were over access to basic discovery. I also filed several motions pointing out the actions of undercover operatives at the Capitol. More recently, most of my filings have been related to basic case strategy. I was scheduled to go to trial in July 2023, but that date was continued due to the Supreme Court ruling that resulted in the Obstruction charge being dismissed. Then I won my motion to continue my December trial date due to the pending change of administrations and the need to preserve judicial economy. The battle is ongoing, but hopefully close to the end.”
How many of the 1,500 or so arrested that day remain jailed?
“The number of arrested individuals is closer to 1,600 now, and I don’t have an exact count on how many are currently detained. To put this in perspective, the DOJ is about to match the number of arrests made by Communist China after Tienanmen Square. There have been several hundred defendants who have already, or are currently, doing time in prison.
“In my case, the government chose to arrest me on Friday, February 12, 2021, when a magistrate was not available for my release hearing. Because of that, I initially did a five day weekend in the Shawnee County Jail. Since I was not violent, I was released pretrial, and have been fighting to maintain my freedom ever since.”
What were your charges?
“Initially, I was indicted on eight counts – two felonies and six misdemeanors – totaling a maximum of 30 years in prison.
“Last year I filed a motion for a bill of particulars, to require the government to be more specific about what conduct they were charging me for. Judge Contreras partially granted that motion, requiring the government to provide more details for three of my charges. Because the Court forced them to provide specifics, the government moved to dismiss two charges related to blocking ingress and egress because those charges were not supported by the facts on video. The government did provide more details for the misdemeanor parading charge, and ridiculously claimed that me holding an American flag inside the United States Capitol constituted criminal parading.
“Last June, the United States Supreme Court also ruled in Fischer v. United States that the government improperly charged the 20-year Felony Obstruction of an Official Proceeding statute in January 6 cases. That decision resulted in my scheduled July trial date being vacated, and the Obstruction charge being dropped. The government had tried to get me to plead to the Obstruction count in 2021, with a range of 41 to 51 months, so clearly, I made the right decision to fight back instead.
“So, I have already beaten three of the original eight charges, and the maximum of 30 total years is down to 8.5 years. My new trial date is scheduled for June 2025, and if it takes place I look forward to vigorously defending myself against the remaining false allegations, which include Felony Civil Disorder (a terribly constructed statute that you can read more about in my filing number 268), and the four standard January 6 misdemeanors (Parading and Picketing, Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building, Entering and Remaining a Restrict Area, and Disorderly Conduct in a Restricted Area.”
Is it true you are the only felony defendant invited to the inauguration?
“My pretrial release conditions include restrictions on me traveling to Washington D.C. except for court. So, like some other defendants, I filed a motion for court permission to travel to Washington for the Inauguration, and I was the first felony defendant to get court permission to travel to the inauguration.
“However, some January 6 defendants have completed a sentence and no longer have travel restrictions, so they may be attending. And there has been at least one felony defendant who was granted permission to travel after I was. I don’t know if they were invited or are attending on general admission.”
How did you receive your invitation and from whom?
“Some friends invited me :)”
Why do you believe you were invited to the inauguration?
“For the last four years I’ve done the most extraordinary work of my life, both in fighting my own case and in helping other January 6 defendants and their attorneys. A lot of that work has been behind the scenes, but I’ve gained the respect of many who are involved, including some who are close to the Trump administration.”
Any regrets from that day?
“No. I embrace adversity and I’m stronger because of it.”