A Summit man will remain in federal custody after prosecutors accused him of firing two shots into the air outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the building.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Jantz in Chicago noted that John Banuelos had asked her to simply release him to live on his own “without any custodial supervision of any sort.” That’s despite claims by the feds that Banuelos, 39, is a flight risk and a danger to the community.
The judge said she didn’t know if her decision would be different if Banuelos had someone willing to vouch for him while he awaited trial. She explained that “all I can do is look at what’s in front of me” as she ordered him into custody during a hearing Wednesday.
Banuelos faces multiple felony charges, including one that carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney LeighAnn Thomas said.
The charges made Banuelos the latest of nearly 50 Illinois residents to be accused in the Capitol riot. He also appears to be the first of that group to be ordered into custody as a danger or flight risk.
Prosecutors in the case of Shane Woods sought a detention order after he was separately charged with the first-degree murder of Lauren Wegner of Skokie. That request was never considered by a judge, though, because Woods was already in custody in Sangamon County, records show. Woods was later sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for his conduct at the Capitol.
Banuelos wore an orange jail jumpsuit with his legs shackled as he appeared in Jantz’s courtroom Wednesday. At the end of the hearing, Banuelos gave the judge a thumbs-up. Defense attorney Seema Ahmad said he appreciated the explanation Jantz had given him for her ruling. For now, Banuelos is due back in Jantz’s courtroom Monday for a preliminary hearing.
Banuelos last week became the first person charged with firing a gun during the riot at the Capitol. The feds say he was caught on video scaling the southwest inaugural stage scaffolding on Jan. 6. He allegedly waved the crowd toward him, pulled what appeared to be a gun from his waistband, raised it over his head and fired two shots into the air.
“This conduct is mind-numbingly dangerous,” Thomas wrote in a court memo Tuesday. “Any number of life-threatening events could have transpired … the threat of an active shooter at the Capitol on Jan. 6 could have triggered a lethal response from law enforcement or a stampede of other rioters.”
Meanwhile, Thomas confirmed in her memo that investigators had their eyes on Banuelos since February 2021, when a witness identified him as a person of interest in the riot.
Then, in July 2021, Banuelos was investigated for a fatal stabbing in Utah, as previously reported by NBC News. While being questioned in that case, he allegedly acknowledged that he’d gone inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and was caught on video with a gun.
The Utah stabbing was determined to be a case of self-defense. And Jantz made clear Wednesday she would not “consider something he wasn’t convicted for” when it came to whether Banuelos should now be released.
Still, the feds followed up with Banuelos about his claims in March 2022. He insisted he did not go inside the Capitol and said he would otherwise not speak with agents.
Prosecutors say he hung up “and then called agents making incoherent sentences saying people were trying to trick him and were messing with his mind.”
In October, the feds say a social media account with the name “John Banuelos” responded to a post about him with a video “that shows Banuelos racking the slide of a semi-automatic weapon.”
When the feds interviewed Banuelos about his social media posts in January, he allegedly said he did not make them and denied trying to threaten anyone. He claimed that “many” of his posts were done by artificial intelligence, prosecutors said.
However, a tattoo on the hand of the person seen on video racking the slide of a weapon appears to match a tattoo on Banuelos’ hand.
It wasn’t until last month that prosecutors say a video was posted online that showed Banuelos firing two shots into the air during the Capitol riot. They say a Banuelos social media account responded two days later with an image of a gun, cigarettes and a beer in what appeared to be a shower caddy.
Banuelos also allegedly responded to someone’s call online to find all “insurrectionists” with a photo of him at the Capitol flashing the butt of his gun.
When he was processed by the FBI following his arrest Friday, Banuelos allegedly gave a false address.
The feds say Banuelos’ criminal history includes 19 arrests, five convictions and two active bench warrants. They said he is wanted in Utah for two misdemeanor domestic violence offenses after failing to show up to court.
