In this YouTube excerpt, Dennis Prager asserts that the United States is "devolving into a police state," citing the pre‑trial detention without bail of a Capitol‑lawn rioter (Coy Griffin) as a concrete example. He contrasts this with the release of individuals convicted of serious violent crimes, arguing that the left‑leaning judiciary is weaponizing the legal system. Julie Kelly provides details about Griffin’s arrest, the length of his detention, and the broader pattern of federal magistrates—particularly Zia Faruqi and Chief District Judge Beryl Howell—who, after serving as prosecutors, are now overseeing cases against Jan 6 participants. Kelly describes how many defendants are being charged with misdemeanors or rarely‑used sedition statutes, often without a jury, and face difficulties securing competent counsel. Specific high‑profile defendants are discussed, including the man who sat behind Nancy Pelosi’s desk, who faces a felony charge for possessing a stun‑gun‑like walking stick and is also held without bond. Throughout, Prager frames these legal actions as evidence of a left‑driven erosion of due process and civil liberties, urging listeners to recognize the systemic bias affecting the judiciary and broader society.
Chapters
The first time in my life that I am saying that America is devolving into a police state. I never exaggerate. One of the reasons I've been on for 35 years. I don't lie and I don't exaggerate. That's why I never said anything about the fire extinguisher. I didn't know it to be true. There are right-wing things that I don't know to be true and I don't say them. So when I tell you that we're devolving into a police state, it's a literal, indisputable fact that a man who was on the lawn of the Capitol is in prison without the possibility of bail, while accused rapists and murderers and sexual sex offenders are let out. This is a very sick society that the left is creating. Julie Kelly's article is about Coy Griffin, who is in prison. How long has he been in prison?
I believe he was arrested or turned himself in around January 8th or 10th, so we're going on almost 4 weeks.
And the argument of the judge— I want to talk about the judge in a moment— The argument is that he— there's a risk of flight, but they could just take away his passport, correct?
Sure, yes, they could.
So it's a phony excuse to keep him in prison?
That's right. And this is— now, these are federal judges who are overturning local judges who had said, okay, well, these— this person could be on home detention or released on—
by the way, even that home detention on a misdemeanor. Yes, a serious percentage of this country would be in home detention.
Correct. I mean, you kind of have to laugh because it's so terrifying.
Um, is there, is there a movement to defend this man?
That's— I've gotten that question quite a bit, Dennis. I don't know. I know that some of the reporting says that these defendants are having a really hard time finding and keeping counsel, which is something you kind of talked about on your show last Friday also. Um, but they are— what they're doing is using these misdemeanors. I think it's important for people to know, to build sedition cases against Americans. This came out of the mouth of the acting attorney general of the United States, who by the way was not appointed by any president or confirmed by the Senate. He's, I believe, just the DOJ lifer, um, bragging openly that they are targeting and building basically never-used sedition cases against Americans for supporting Donald Trump. It's— and it's not an exaggeration. You are correct.
Do you know anything about this, uh, Zia Faruqi, the judge?
Zia Faruqi is the one who handed down— is handing down quite a few of these sentences and keeping people in jail throughout trial. This is the swamp at work. He was a member— he was a prosecutor in the DC U.S. Attorney's Office for 12 years. He was appointed a magistrate, so He wasn't even appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. He was appointed a magistrate by the D.C. Chief District Justice Beryl Howell, who is also overseeing a lot of these cases. So you have judges who left the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office are now adjudicating these cases with their one-time, long-time colleagues in the U.S. Attorney's Office. So these defendants don't have a chance. Dennis, they don't, they don't have a chance of any kind of fair trial. Even if they get there, they're already being treated far differently than people who committed—
First of all, since when are there trials for misdemeanors, let alone federal trials? No, no, I'm asking. I'm not— I, I wasn't making a point. I'm truly asking. I mean, is this, is this uncommon?
I would have to think that it's uncommon for a trial for someone trespassing near the Capitol grounds, one charge. I would think that that would be hard to prove.
And who makes the decision? I assume there's no jury.
I don't think so. I believe it's just that this judge will oversee it.
What's the maximum punishment for a misdemeanor?
I would assume— I'm not an attorney, but I would assume a year at most for this kind of a charge. And they're almost all misdemeanor cases. The people have been charged so far. Meanwhile, Dennis, keep in mind, we still don't know the quote-unquote murderer of Officer Brian Sicknick. They can't figure out who that is because that story's falling apart as well. But they can round up people who entered the Capitol and broke a few windows. Not to minimize that, they should be charged for those crimes, but not built into sedition crimes against America.
So 6, 7 months of staggering damage to humans and property, basically uncharged with anything. A guy is on the lawn of the Capitol and is in prison already for a month. With no possibility of bail. I just want people to understand what the left does to everything it touches, including the judiciary and everything else. It ruins it. So who are these other 2 dozen people?
So you will recall the man who was sitting behind Nancy Pelosi's desk. Now obviously he should not have been there. He has been charged by a grand jury with 8 counts. Only one is a felony, which was carrying a deadly weapon onto Capitol grounds, which turned out to be a walking stick that's also a stun gun that anyone can buy on Amazon. That's the only federal felony charge against him. He also is being held in jail without bond. And this thing— this Judge Beryl Howell, who's the chief district judge in D.C., condemned him, scolded him, said he was a danger to democracy, he defiled the U.S. Constitution by daring to sit behind Nancy Pelosi's desk. Um, again, you will remember the climate activists brought into Nancy Pelosi's office in 2018 by AOC who occupied her office the entire day. They weren't charged with anything, but, uh, I believe his name is Robert Sanford. No, I'm sorry, he's the fireman, uh, Griffin. Um, he, uh, the man behind Pelosi's desk, now sits in jail also awaiting trial.
Okay, hold on there. Julie Kelly's piece is up at DennisPrager.com.
