FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — On April 27, a lawyer for Nathan Earl Hughes, a Fayetteville man accused of storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, filed a motion to suppress evidence found in a search warrant, stating that the FBI waited too long to enact the search, and the probable cause was stale.
Hughes' lawyer, William Shipley Jr., argues that the probable cause for the search, based partly on the clothes Hughes is reportedly seen wearing in security camera footage of the Capitol Riot, was "stale," due to the 31 months that passed between the recording and the request for the search.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are accusing Hughes of pushing against the Capitol police line in the Lower West Terrace tunnel at the Capitol, signaling to rioters, "C'mon! C'mon!" while waving his hand in the direction of the tunnel. Hughes is seen, according to officials, charging toward the police line.
According to court documents, Hughes was arrested in August 2023 under two felony charges: civil disorder and impeding officers, along with three misdemeanors: disruptive conduct on restricted grounds, entering a restricted building, and violent entry on Capitol grounds.
In October 2023, Hughes pleaded not guilty to five charges related to his involvement in the 2021 riot. Authorities were reportedly able to identify Hughes by his clothing in photos and video taken on Jan. 6, 2021.
Officials say that Hughes "assisted the mob with forcefully removing police riot shields and passing them out of the tunnels ... back to the other rioters.”
A trial date for Hughes and four other defendants has been set for July 15, 2024.
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