'Not appropriate': Judge rejects J6 felon's plea to attend Trump’s inauguration

A federal judge on Friday refused to allow a Jan. 6 felon permission to travel to Washington D.C. to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, despite congressional support and a personal invitation from three Utah Republican lawmakers.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth appeared unmoved by former Rep. Chris Stewart’s (R-UT) endorsement of Russell Taylor’s character, his good conduct while on probation, and assistance to prosecutors. The judge found that the “unusually grave conduct” admitted to by Taylor, and the “sheer danger” he contributed to on the day of the Capitol attack, did not entitle him to attend an inauguration.

“To attend the Presidential Inauguration, which celebrates and honors the peaceful transfer of power, is an immense privilege,” Lambert wrote in his five-page opinion issued Friday. “It would not be appropriate for the Court to grant permission to attend such a hallowed event to someone who carried weapons and threatened police officers in an attempt to thwart the last Inauguration, and who openly glorified ‘[i]nsurrection’ against the United States.”

Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, is the second federal judge to deny such a request from a Jan. 6 defendant, according to Politico. U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly, appointed by Trump, declined to allow a felony defendant facing charges for releasing chemical spray at a police officer permission to attend Trump’s second inauguration on Thursday.

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Taylor’s request was the only one that got a public thumbs up by members of Congress, Politico noted. But while he acknowledged Stewart's praise of Taylor’s "good values," Lamberth pointed out that those factors had already considered when he handed down “an unusually lenient sentence relative to the acts he committed.”

“Mr. Taylor’s motion presents only the narrow question of whether a person who conspired and acted to thwart the peaceful transfer of power four years ago with incitement, threats, and weapons should now be granted special permission to attend the celebration of the peaceful transfer of power,” Lamberth wrote. “The answer to that question is ‘no.’”

Lamberth sentenced Taylor to six months of home confinement after he agreed to testify against a member of his group who received an 11-year prison sentence. The judge cited Taylor's remorse and testimony when sentencing him.

Trump has said he will "most likely" pardon Jan. 6 rioters on day one of his presidency.