Left: Jan. 6 defendant Eric Peterson inside the U.S. Capitol (Department of Justice). Right: President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak at a meeting of the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
Less than a month after getting the green light to attend Donald Trump‘s inauguration, Eric Lee Peterson — a military vet from Missouri who “knowingly and unlawfully” participated in the Jan. 6 attack while wearing a bright pink T-shirt — has been ordered to stay away from both the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and the building itself now that the ceremony has been moved indoors due to dangerously cold temperatures.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued the order on Saturday after previously approving Peterson’s request to attend the Jan. 20 inauguration last month, according to the federal docket. Prosecutors did not file an objection to Peterson attending the event after he pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. He is currently awaiting sentencing.
Chutkan’s order, posted to the public docket, says in part:
Although the court permitted Mr. Peterson to travel to the District of Columbia for the upcoming Presidential Inauguration on Monday, January 20, 2025, the court clarifies its December 19, 2024 Minute Order regarding Mr. Peterson’s travel and modified conditions of release: Mr. Peterson is not allowed to enter the U.S. Capitol Building located at First Street, SE, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Peterson is also not allowed to remain on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building, as he has pleaded guilty to, and is awaiting sentencing for, Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1752(a)(1).
Mr. Peterson is reminded that he must not violate federal, state, or local law while on release, as stated in his 7 Order setting conditions of release. Courts have wide latitude to modify conditions of release and “may at any time amend the order [setting conditions of pretrial release] to impose additional or different conditions of release.” 18 U.S.C. § 3142(c)(3). All other conditions of Mr. Peterson’s pretrial release remain unchanged. Signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 1/18/2025. (lcer)
In addition to staying away from the Capitol, Chutkan — a Barack Obama appointee who agreed to scrap Trump’s election interference case late last year “without prejudice” after special counsel Jack Smith filed to dismiss, citing long-standing DOJ policy against prosecuting sitting presidents — told Peterson that he “must not violate federal, state, or local law while on release, as stated in his 7 Order setting conditions of release.”
All other conditions of his pretrial release remain unchanged, according to Chutkan’s order.
Peterson’s demands came down just two days after Chutkan denied a motion to continue Peterson’s sentencing, which was filed by his lawyer Michael Bullotta on Thursday. In that motion, Bullotta argued that Peterson’s scheduled sentencing hearing should be delayed for 30 days “in order to accommodate the fact that he may or not still be facing prosecution once the new Trump Administration takes office this coming Monday.” Trump has said in interviews that he plans to pardon Jan. 6 rioters on his “first day” in office.
“Mr. Peterson’s sentencing is currently scheduled for one-week thereafter, Jan. 27,” Bullotta said in the motion to continue. “According to an NBC News article dated today, January 16, 2025, there are eleven items that President Donald Trump announced his administration would do on the first day of his second term … One of those items is pardoning non-violent January 6th defendants like Mr. Peterson who has no criminal record and was a trespasser inside the Capitol Building for a period of eight minutes.”
Chutkan denied Bullotta’s request and ruled that it was based on speculation, according to court documents.
Peterson, who pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 after being hit with misdemeanor charges in August 2024, is among a laundry list of Jan. 6 defendants who have requested delays and approval to attend Trump’s inauguration.
One Jan. 6 rioter from California, Russell Taylor — who also pleaded guilty and is on probation for storming the U.S. Capitol with a knife, bear spray, a hatchet and other weapons — asked for approval in December and even enlisted the help of his lawmaker “friends” in Utah, who asked the judge overseeing his case in a letter.
“He is the guest of a former congressman, and has demonstrated over and over again that he is trustworthy in his travel and compliance with court orders,” wrote Taylor’s attorney, Dyke E. Huish, in a Dec. 11 court motion asking U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth — a Ronald Reagan appointee — to let Taylor travel from California to Washington with his wife and children.
What separates Peterson from rioters like Taylor, according to his lawyer, is that he wasn’t armed or acting dangerous.
“Mr. Peterson is a business owner and military veteran who has no criminal history before this case,” Bullotta claimed in his Dec. 17 inauguration request. “He has no history of any kind of violence or vandalism. There is no reason to believe that Mr. Peterson will be violent or present any danger to the residents of the District if the Court grants his request to attend the inaugural event.”
Chutkan agreed with Bullotta’s assessment and issued a motion on Dec. 19 to approve Peterson’s trip to Washington. She ruled that Peterson was free to travel within the entirety of the Kansas City metropolitan area during his trip and all other conditions of his probation would remain unchanged. The Capitol and its grounds were not expressly off limits in this motion, and at the time, the inauguration was still scheduled to take place outside.
However, the National Weather Service has since predicted temperatures in Washington, D.C., to be around 20 degrees at the time of Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, and the decision was made to move it indoors.
“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country,” Trump said Friday on Truth Social. “I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th.”
