WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — A federal judge has agreed to free an Iowa man from jail more than six months after his videotaped confrontation of a police officer inside the U.S. Capitol became one of the most menacing images of the Jan. 6 riots.
Douglas Jensen was wearing a T-shirt bearing a symbol of the QAnon conspiracy theory when he joined the mob that approached Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman inside the building and followed the officer up two flights of stairs.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly agreed Tuesday to release the Des Moines resident on house arrest with electronic location monitoring.
Kelly pointed to new cell phone videos released to the court, recorded by Jensen himself, showing him at the Capitol, bragging, incorrectly, about being at the White House.
Jensen is heard in his own video saying, "This is me touching the f--ing White House. This is why we are here. Just thought you should know."
"It's hard to imagine that Mr. Jensen planned or ordinated the events of January 6 when he had no basic understanding of where he even was," Kelly said Tuesday, according to ABC News.
Prosecutors argued that releasing Jensen would pose a danger to the public.
Jensen was among the first wave of rioters to be charged after Jan. 6.
Kelly's order will put Jensen under home confinement with a GPS monitoring device, restricting him from leaving except for medical necessities, court appearances or other court-approved activities. He is also restricted from using the internet and drinking alcohol or using any other substances.
According to prosecutors, the "investigation and prosecution of the Capitol Breach will be the largest in American history, both in terms of the number of defendants prosecuted and the nature and volume of the evidence.”
Prosecutors have also collected "voluminous" materials related to the investigations, including thousands of hours of closed-circuit video and over 200,000 digital media tips.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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