ATLANTA — A Georgia man photographed wearing paramilitary gear and carrying zip ties while storming the U.S. Capitol was in court Friday.
Channel 2′s Tony Thomas listened to the federal hearing in Nashville, where Eric Munchel is being held.
Authorities say Munchel and his mother, Lisa Marie Eisenhart, were part of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Muchel is now accused of stashing weapons outside of the Capitol.
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On Friday, prosecutors told a judge that Munchel is a serious threat if he is released.
Videos shot just hours after the attack showed Munchel and Eisenhart all smiles while talking about what happened.
“I’m just a hidden patriot ready to jump off,” Munchel said.
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In court on Friday, prosecutors showed a judge pictures of weapons they say they recovered in Munchel’s apartment. The stash included 16 firearms, including a sniper rifle and assault weapons, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Prosecutors have recovered a phone Munchel wore strapped to his chest after he gave it to a friend.
In the video, agents said they could hear the mother and son talking about going into the Capitol with weapons.
“We’re going straight to federal prison if we go in there with weapons,” Eisenhart says in the video.
Later, after watching and encouraging rioters, Munchel says in the video he has to “take his weapons off before I go.”
Prosecutors said Munchel and Eisenhart hid the weapons in a backpack stashed on Capitol grounds.
An FBI agent found similar zip ties in Munchel’s apartment. One agent told the judge that Munchel “brought them back to Nashville with him perhaps as trophies.”
Prosecutors want Munchel banned from Washington and on a GSP tracking device if he’s let out of jail.
Late Friday night, Magistrate Judge Chip Frensley released Munchel on Bond with stipulations saying he was no flight risk and that Munchel did not “pose an obvious and clear danger to the safety of this community.”
Frensley said while Munchel “chose to be a part of that mob,” that it was not clear to him that he had an intent to do harm.
The judge also said he believes Munchel “has respect for law enforcement,” because video showed him being respectful in conversations with them.
The stipulations that Munchel must follow include that he cannot not possess firearms or weapons, he cannot violate law, he must appear in court, live with a friend, cannot leave middle Tennessee, can only leave the are to go to Washington, DC for court appearance there and he will remain under home detention with electronic monitoring.
“He has a right to his beliefs. He doesn’t have a right to do what he did on Jan. 6,” the judge said.
The judge also put a stay on his order until 10 a.m. Monday so prosecutors can appeal the decision. Frensley said he’s confident in his ruling but prosecutors want to take it to another court.
Eisenhart also faces federal charges. She’s back in court this summer.
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