Christopher Worrell is seen wearing a tactical vest with an attached a body camera and can of what is believed to be pepper spray gel at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (Image via federal court records.)
Finding a Proud Boys member’s complaints of inadequate medical care behind bars “without merit,” a federal judge issued a scathing ruling on Wednesday explaining why he kept him in jail—and highlighting his vulgar Facebook tirades against the “pu**y ass bitch” he believed “ratted” him out following an FBI visit.
“Believe I know who ratted,” Christopher Worrell, 49, told an unidentified user on Jan. 18, the day the FBI interviewed him, according to the ruling.
Then, prosecutors quote him indiscreetly posting publicly on his Facebook page: “”SO WHOMEVER [sic] CALLED THE ‘FEDS’ ON ME REST ASSURED I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THIS SOON!! The best part is you have NOTHING accept [sic] empty accusations!! You are the piece of shit I knew you were!!”
As commenters responded, Worrell added: “It’s a simple case of a butt hurt pu**y ass bitch that thought they could F**k with someone with some dumb bullshit!! They are about to get educated in ‘real life.”
That is the backdrop of a 30-page opinion by Ronald Reagan-appointed Senior U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth explaining his decision earlier this month to keep Worrell in jail.
Hoping to reverse an earlier denial, Worrell claims that that correctional authorities did not provide adequate medical care for his “rapidly deteriorating” condition stemming from a recurrence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, allegedly putting him at risk for COVID-19, which his attorneys say he contracted earlier this year.
“I’m pleading with the court: I need this treatment, whatever it may be,” Worrell told a federal judge weeks ago in May, over a static-filled connection during virtual court proceedings.
“This is an extremely trying time for me and my family,” Worrell added.
But Judge Lamberth called Worrell’s claims “without merit.”
“Contrary to defendant’s characterizations, the record reflects that he has received attentive medical care for his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, COVID-19, and other ailments while in custody,” the ruling states.
Worrell, who is awaiting trial on allegations that he assaulted police with chemical spray during the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, told authorities that he was originally treated for the condition in 2007 and claims that he is unable to be properly treated for this condition behind bars. Prosecutors say that Worrell has no coronavirus symptoms now, but his lawyers claim the returning cancer leaves him vulnerable.
Federal prosecutors questioned the actions of his physician Dr. Bino Rucker, writing in a brief opposing Worrell’s release that the doctor “appears to be a urologist, not an oncologist.” Rucker prescribed Worrell a drug called naltrexone, which the government describes as medication “employed to treat opioid-related issues” given to Worrell for “off-label” use. Charlotte County Jail restricted Worrell’s use of the drug after being unable to reach Rucker, prosecutors say.
Scheduled to see an oncologist on May 19, Worrell claimed to have needed immediate action and treatment. The judge said that the report of that visit contradicted Worrell’s urologist-backed account.
“The report also notes that defendant had ‘no lymphadenopathy’ and ‘no skin lesions,’ although defendant had reported skin lesions,” Lamberth said.
Worrell’s lawyer John Pierce, whose firm represented Rudy Giuliani and who had a falling out with former client Kyle Rittenhouse, renewed the accused rioter’s most recent motion for pretrial release after receiving an unfavorable ruling from the D.C. Court of Appeals.
“Mr. Worrell is suffering in jail and has been unable to get the medical attention he needs for his life-threatening cancer,” Pierce wrote in a 19-page legal brief earlier this week. Pierce represents other Jan. 6 defendants as well.
His co-counsel James Kelly, from the firm Pierce Bainbridge, alleged in court that Worrell’s lack of treatment amounts to him being “tortured.”
In ruling against Worrell in May, the D.C. Circuit appeared to create a distinction between accused Capitol rioters charged with violence and those who were not. The court issued a ruling leading to the release so-called “zip-tie guy” Eric Munchel—who was seen carrying plastic handcuffs inside the Capitol building and did not use them. Prosecutors claim that Worrell brought pepper spray to the Capitol and was captured on tape using it on police officers.
The appellate court’s three-judge panel found Worrell unfit for release.
“In contrast to the defendants in Munchel, as the district court here found, appellant ‘actually assaulted police officers’ with pepper spray gel. And appellant has not shown that this finding was clearly erroneous,” the court wrote. “The district court’s dangerousness determination is further buttressed by the threats against others—including potential witnesses—that appellant indicated to the FBI, as well as his membership in and alleged coordination with the Proud Boys, some of whose members have been indicted for conspiring to attack Congress.”
Worrell pleaded not guilty to the charges against him toward the close of a roughly 40-minute hearing in May.
Read the ruling below:
(Image via federal court records)
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