A U.S. federal judge, Zia Faruqui, has apologised to Cole Allen, the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump last month, over his “extreme” treatment in custody, which included a five-point restraint.
Mr Faruqui offered Mr Allen an apology during a hearing on Monday when he heard that the suspect had been placed under suicide watch at the District of Columbia jail after he was arrested at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last April.
According to the defence legal team, the defendant was initially held in solitary confinement with no access to personal items or jail visits despite their client’s assessments repeatedly showing no evidence of intention to commit suicide.
Mr Allen has since been released from suicide watch, prompting his lawyer to withdraw a motion challenging his detention in that condition.
The judge was dissatisfied with the treatment of Mr Allen in detention and unconvinced by the argument of the prosecutors to place the defendant on suicide watch, stating, “Whatever you’ve been through, I apologise for the prior week.”
Speaking further, the judge maintained that the situation was disturbing. He noted that he was unaware of any case in which defendants had straps placed on their shoulders, hips and legs while in custody.
“To me, it’s extremely disturbing that he was put in five-point restraints, a person with no criminal history. It’s troubling. I never heard of one January 6 defendant who was put in five-point restraints or in a safe cell. If the only way to keep him safe is the most punitive thing, that’s a problem,” Mr Faruqui said.
The judge added, “At a minimum, I should be apologising to him. We are obligated to make sure he’s taken care of. Mr Allen, I’m sorry that things have not been the way they are supposed to.”
Mr Faruqui’s action has sparked heavy criticism from Mr Trump’s supporters, including lawmakers, who raised concerns about the decision to apologise to a suspect being prosecuted for an alleged attempt to kill an American president.
“This man nearly killed federal officers on his suicide mission to assassinate the president of the United States, so naturally, a federal judge is apologising to him for being restrained,” Republican Senator Mike Lee commented on X.
Another Republican Senator, Tim Sheehy, stated, “This is the same judge who tried to release the man who beat up Congresswoman Angie Craig despite 25 bench warrants. Judge Faruqui should be in jail, not on the bench.”
“Only in D.C. does a judge say ‘sorry’ to the guy who shot a Secret Service agent and tried to turn the Correspondents’ Dinner into target practice,” Congressman Abe Hamadeh (Republican) said.
