MACON — A federal judge has denied bail for a Georgia attorney who bragged about being a part of storming the U.S. Capitol.
Channel 2′s Tony Thomas was at the federal courthouse in Macon, where a judge told McCall Calhoun he believed the longtime attorney in Americus was corrupted by violent ideology.
Calhoun posted a video of himself on social media in the middle of the mob swarming the Capitol on Jan. 6
Federal prosecutors told Judge Charles Weigle that Calhoun was one of the first rioters to break through and head to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
TRENDING STORIES:
- 2 Cobb County teachers have died of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours
- Teenager accused of scamming metro Kroger out of nearly $1 million
- New study shows COVID-19 could hide in your brain and reactivate down the road
An FBI agent testified that Calhoun wrote on social media in the weeks leading up to his trip to Washington that he would “be slinging enough hot lead to stack you commies up like cord wood.”
FBI agents said that when they went to arrest Calhoun, he was armed with more than a dozen weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammo.
Weigle said in the hearing that Calhoun probably considered the judge himself “scum who deserves a headshot.”
In court, Calhoun sat shackled in chains. His attorney insisted he was not a danger to anyone and the social media talk was just bluster.
“You crossed a sacred line,” Weigle said. “If you don’t respect the Capitol police or the Capitol building of the United States, I have no reason to believe you will respect anything I say.”
Thomas learned that Calhoun is suffering from prostate cancer, and his family wanted him to be released so he could be seen by his own doctors.
After the hearing, Calhoun’s family and his lawyer refused to talk to reporters.
“No comment at all,” his attorney said.
Thomas watched Calhoun’s mother wave at him and his sister yell that she loved him as he was led out of court by U.S. Marshals.
He will likely leave Georgia in the next few weeks when his case gets transferred to federal court in Washington, D.C.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
This browser does not support the video element.