No European trip allowed for SC Citadel student accused in Jan. 6 riot, judge rules
A federal judge has denied a request by a Citadel cadet who was charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to participate in a three-week study abroad program this summer that included visits to sensitive government installations such as a NATO cybersecurity station.
“He is facing federal charges in one of the most serious and consequential actions in this country in over 100 years,” U.S. Judge Tanya Chutkan said Tuesday of Elias Irizarry, a sophomore at South Carolina’s military college, The Citadel.
Irizarry was part of a “mob” that “almost caused a halt to the transfer of power in this country. It was tantamount to an attempt to overthrow the government,” Chutkan said.
“I’m not going to allow him unsupervised to go off for three weeks to visit NATO cybersecurity sites,” she said.
“Your motion ... is denied,” Chutkan told Eugene Ohm, Irizarry’s lawyer, who had urged the judge to let Irizarry travel to Estonia for a three-week study abroad program.
Irizarry, a 2020 Nation Ford High graduate from York County, did not speak in the hearing held by teleconference. Irizarry has been on federal bail since his arrest in March 2021.
He has pleaded not guilty.
In court Tuesday, Chutkan said Irizarry has so far rejected a plea offer and has not sought to resolve the case by saying he wanted to go to trial or offer to plead guilty. Instead, he is trying to accumulate extra credits in a study abroad summer program that would allow him to graduate from the Citadel early, she said.
““The urgency in this case should not be for Mr. Irizarry to graduate early. He has neither entered a plea or set a trial date — and yet he wants to travel to Estonia. I think Mr. Irizarry needs to refocus his priorities,” she said.
Ohm argued Irizarry would be supervised while on the trip, but Chutkan was unmoved. Estonia borders Russia, and the study abroad program would involve visiting NATO sites, the judge said. It would also involve visiting the U.S. Embassy in Estonia, an installation that is typically high security.
Ohm also argued that Irizarry should face no sanction in his pending case as he has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent.
“What if he wanders into Russia?” the judge asked during the hearing. “I don’t need a lecture on the presumption of innocence.”
Chutkan further added that study abroad programs are a benefit, not a requirement.
And, Chutkan said, although Irizarry is trying to get summer credit to graduate early, he is on pre-trial supervision for allegations in a serious riot that attempted to stop the peaceful transition of power on the United States.
She said Irizarry was a student enrolled at the Citadel when he came to Washington and participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which was “a very, very serious action that threatened the security of this country,” she said. “Let’s not forget that.”
Irizarry, 20, and a friend, Elliot Bishai, another Nation Ford High graduate in Fort Mill, were offered plea bargains in mid-December by the prosecution.
Bishai pleaded guilty in late April to entering a restricted Capitol area. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 29.
Judge: Studying abroad is a ‘want,’ not a ‘need’
The judge noted Tuesday that while Bishai has pleaded guilty, he has not responded to a plea offer from the government.
Charging documents indicate that the cases against Bishai and Irizarry are approximately the same.
Irizarry and Bishai were arrested by the FBI in March 2021 and were arraigned in federal court in Columbia, where assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Daniels told a magistrate judge that evidence in the case showed they entered the Capitol through a broken window with a mob numbering in the hundreds
Videos show both men entering the Capitol through a window that others in the mob had broken out, court documents alleged. Bishai shouted, “Let’s go!” and “Civil War 2!” as the pair ambled through the Capitol, taking selfies and sitting on statues, according to evidence in his case.
Irizarry, a Trump supporter, wore a “Make America Great Again” cap during the riot.
Both were charged with knowingly disrupting a session of Congress, disorderly conduct in a federal building, demonstrating in a Capitol building and entering and remaining in a Capitol building.
Chutkan has already allowed Irizarry to go to Europe one time.
In December, she allowed Irizarry to travel to Germany over the Christmas holiday on a three-day family trip with his mother.
That trip — a personal trip — was different from the privileged study abroad program that Irizarry wants to take, the judge said.
Under the conditions of being allowed on bond pending trial, Irizarry has to request and receive permission from the judge in his case to travel out of the country.
Ohm also told the judge that the six hours worth of academic credit Irizarry would get for the summer study would help him graduate early. Paying for college is a “constant source of stress” for Irizarry, who grew up in poverty, Ohm said.
Chutkan, expressing little patience with Ohm’s arguments about Irizarry’s financial situation, said travel abroad to study is not something “somebody in financial straits usually” participates in.
In Irizarry’s case, studying abroad is a “want,” not a “need,” Chutkan said. “He can get the credits, he just can’t get them through this program.”
Irizarry was one of some 800 people arrested in the Jan. 6 riot, sparked by election fraud falsehoods that were echoed by President Donald Trump and his associates. The rioters’ goal on Jan. 6 was to stop Congress from certifying the election of President Joe Biden.
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 1:53 PM.
