Six months after the insurrection at the United States Capitol, the three New Hampshire men who are facing charges in connection with the effort to overturn the election of Joseph Biden continue to await trial. This week, word came that one of them — Ryder Winegar, 33, of Amherst — now plans to change his plea to guilty on charges of making threats to six members of Congress and one New Hampshire State representative.
According to police, Winegar sent an email to a state representative on December 14, threatening to pull the man from bed and hang him. He also allegedly left threatening voicemail messages on December 16 and 17, threatening to kill the congressmen unless they overturned the election results in favor of Donald Trump.
After refusing to speak to Capitol Police officers who went to his home on December 20, he fled to Brazil. He returned on January 11 and surrendered to members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although he pleaded not guilty at the time, the docket of the United States District Court in Concord has scheduled an August hearing in which he has indicated he intends to plead guilty.
Magistrate Judge Andrea K. Johnstone’s order states that investigators entering his home had found an AR-15 rifle loaded with light armor-piercing ammunition, a loaded shotgun, a loaded 9mm pistol, an unloaded rifle with a scope, several hundred rounds of ammunition, and a body armor vest, with clips and Level IV body armor plates.
Meanwhile, Thomas Gallagher, 61, of Bridgewater, along with Jason Riddle of Keene, are facing charges in the United States District Court in Washington, D.C., for being part of the crowd that stormed the Capitol building in January. Prosecutors have shared some evidence from their investigation, including photographs and videos from cell phones, police paperwork and notes, and arrest packets; but other evidence has been deemed “sensitive” and remains confidential.
Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to charges of entering and staying in a restricted building; engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to impede government business; engaging in disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Riddle was charged with entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and theft of government property, according to a criminal complaint that was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Despite the charges, Riddle has announced his plans to run against five-term Congressman Annie Kuster in the 2022 midterm elections, taking a page from Trump’s playbook: “In the long run, if you’re running for office, any attention is good attention, so I think it will help me,” Riddle told News Center Maine.
Supreme Court Ruling Offers Hope To Police-Shooter
Malik Koval, 24, of Falmouth, Massachusetts, who is facing six felonies and six misdemeanor charges after allegedly injuring two police officers in a shootout on July 27, 2018, is looking to a June 23 Supreme Court decision to free him.
The ruling, written by Justice Elena Kagan, says that pursuing a fleeing suspect of a misdemeanor crime does not justify a warrantless entry into a home unless there is a compelling need with no time to secure a warrant. Examples of times that home entry is permissible include when the pursuit could prevent imminent injury, the destruction of evidence, or a suspect’s escape.
In Koval’s case, officers Donald DeMiranda and Ryan Moore were responding to a report of a disturbance in which a man was smashing bottles in the roadway and yelling obscenities about people littering. The Cape and Island District Attorney has refused to release the police report, but the defendant’s motion said that, while DeMiranda was questioning Koval about the disturbance, Moore came up behind Koval, frightening him. Koval fled, leading to a police chase that ultimately had officers entering Koval’s mother’s home. Koval grabbed a gun and, in the ensuing chaos, non-fatal gunfire was exchanged, with both officers, along with Koval, being shot.
Good-Bye To Kenneth A. Randall
Today at 11 a.m., there will be a graveside service with military honors for Kenneth A. Randall, at Park Cemetery, 414 West Main Street, Tilton.
No one who has covered community news in the last 50 years will forget Ken, who served as Tilton Town Treasurer from 1962 to 1986, Tilton Budget Committee member from 1983 to 1992, Assistant Town Moderator from 1994 to 2001, Town Moderator from 2002 to 2010, Winnisquam Regional School District as Moderator from 1974 to 2010, and Moderator for the Tilton-Northfield Fire District for two years. He also served as a state representative from 1974 to 1990, including as chair of the Belknap County Delegation for 10 years, and he served in the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention in 1973. He was a member of the Gunstock Recreation Area Commission from 1964 to 1968.
He always brought a little humor to the moderator’s job, especially after he miscalculated a vote tally, requiring a special meeting to resolve the error. Every year after that, he would ask for others with calculators to verify his math on votes requiring a two-thirds or three-fifths majority.
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