Judge Jeanine Pirro’s efforts to spearhead President Donald Trump’s tough-on-crime strategy in Washington, D.C. has hit another snag with a recent grand jury’s decision. This time, they declined to indict a local attorney on charges of assaulting National Guard members, according to WUSA9.
This marks the eighth instance in the past month where a grand jury has opted against pursuing felony charges pushed by Pirro, who transitioned from being a Fox News personality to a U.S. Attorney in D.C., as outlined in WUSA9’s report.
The lawyer at the center of this latest case, Paul Anthony Bryant, is a West Point graduate and an Army veteran. He was taken into custody on August 24 after allegedly confronting members of the National Guard with menacing words such as, “these are our streets” and “I’ll kill you.” He also mentioned being “strapped,” referencing carrying a weapon, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the ABA Journal.
Pirro charged him with multiple offenses, including assaulting National Guardsmen and threatening federal officials.
In court, Bryant rejected the charges as “baseless” and argued that his interaction with the Guard was blown out of proportion, especially since there was no video evidence, as the Guardsmen were not equipped with body cameras.
Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui ordered Bryant’s release from custody on August 28, describing the prosecutors’ request for detention as extremely weak and out of place. 13News Now reported.
Despite the arrest, prosecuting lawyers claimed that Bryant posed a danger to the community, in part due to his possession of a firearm. However, he legally owned the gun and possessed a concealed carry permit. Faruqui indicated that there was a precedent of not detaining many defendants connected to the January 6 Capitol riots who faced more serious accusations, as noted in 13News Now.
The Daily Beast tried reaching out to Pirro for comments on the matter.
This grand jury’s no indictment decision contributes to a worrying pattern for Pirro, whose initiatives often coincide with Trump’s enforcement actions in D.C., despite a notable drop in violent crime rates in the city, which recently hit a 30-year low last year.
One significant case involved Sean Dunn, who went viral for throwing a sandwich at an officer, yet even he evaded an indictment.
In a later incident, a grand jury turned down charges against Nathalie Jones, who faced accusations of making threatening remarks about Trump, referring to him as a “Nazi” on social media.
Securing a grand jury indictment is generally an uphill battle. Pirro claimed juries are influenced by politics and mentioned to the Daily Beast that the D.C. legal system “is broken on many levels.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Trump ventured out to dine at a D.C. restaurant, boasting about the supposed enhanced safety in the area; however, his meal was overshadowed as he faced loud heckling from locals, signaling that all is not well with his administration’s intervention in the city.
