'Outrageous': Judge Lays Into Trump-Loving Deputy Who Wore 'Sheriff' Patch On Jan. 6

Ronald Colton McAbee was a sheriff's deputy when he attempted to breach the Capitol on Jan. 6. A judge is deciding whether he'll be freed pretrial.

A federal judge criticized a Capitol attack defendant and sworn officer who was working for a Tennessee sheriff’s office when he faced off against law enforcement on Jan. 6 while wearing a “Sheriff” patch on his vest. 

Ronald Colton McAbee, known to online sleuths investigating the Jan. 6 attack as #ThreePercentSheriff because of the insignia he wore representing the far-right cause, was arrested in mid-August. A federal magistrate judge in Tennessee ordered McAbee released with conditions, including to “refrain from using any social media or other websites related to insurrection activity.” But federal prosecutors filed an emergency appeal of the judge’s ruling, and the matter was reviewed during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan on Wednesday.

Sullivan called McAbee’s decision to wear a “Sheriff” patch while he attempted to storm Congress on Jan. 6 “outrageous” and said videos apparently showing McAbee attacking officers were “very disturbing.” While McAbee’s defense attorney maintained that McAbee was offering assistance to one officer and only pushed another officer after the officer pushed him, Sullivan said it “appears clearly to this court” that the video showed McAbee pulling an officer into the violent mob.