A federal judge on Friday told off a Capitol riot defendant who refused to wear a mask during his hearing, telling the defendant “You don’t make the rules.”
The confrontation took place during a hearing for defendant Daniel Goodwyn, according The Washington Post. He pleaded not guilty in April to five charges in connection with the Jan. 6 riot.
According to court records, prosecutors were trying to revoke Goodwyn’s pretrial release over his behavior, including repeatedly flouting orders to wear a mask.
During Friday’s hearing, Goodwyn’s attorney, Daniel Hull, explained to Judge Reggie Walton that Goodwyn had autism, which makes it harder for him to wear masks, the Post reported.
But when asked why he wouldn’t wear one, Goodwyn simply said “it stresses me out,” adding “I believe I would not cause someone to die by not wearing a mask.”
Instead of locking him up, Walton decided to order Goodwyn to wear a mask whenever he meets with pretrial services or appears in court, according to the newspaper.
But Walton was clear: “If you can’t do that I’m going to have no alternative [but] to lock you up and keep you locked up until this case is resolved.”
“They don’t have to put their lives at risk, they don’t have to, and they will not,” Walton continued, referring to court staff.
Goodwyn replied: “I understand [but] I’m not going to do that, sir.” He added that Texas doesn’t require masks indoors.
“I don’t care what the law in Texas is,” Walton fired back. “You don’t make the rules. You will be arrested.”
When Goodwyn was arrested at his parent’s home in Texas, the FBI learned that at least one person in the home believed they had COVID-19.
When agents placed a mask on his face, Goodwyn “attempted to chew through the mask and spit the mask out,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Goodwyn was released to home confinement in February. But prosecutors said he repeatedly refuses to wear a mask, show up to meetings or report his location.
https://populist.press/jan-6-defendant-had-enough-goes-off-on-hateful-liberal-judge/
Researchers are trying to unravel why some COVID-19 survivors suffer “brain fog” and other problems that can last for months, and new findings suggest some worrisome overlaps with Alzheimer’s disease.
One study of older adults in Argentina found a surprising amount of dementia-like changes in memory and thinking for at least six months after a bout with the coronavirus — regardless of the severity of their infection. Other researchers found Alzheimer’s-related proteins in the blood of New Yorkers whose COVID-19 triggered brain symptoms early on.
The preliminary findings were reported at an Alzheimer’s Association meeting Thursday. Experts stress far more research is needed — and getting underway — to tell if COVID-19 might raise the risk of Alzheimer’s or other brain problems later in life, or if people eventually recover.
The possibilities “are real and troubling,” but it’s too soon to know “whether this is really going to result in long-term cognitive change,” cautioned Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging.
https://apnews.com/article/science-health-coronavirus-pandemic-d8fbdcb7fd099e2416d0b15d99bc564c