The Department of Justice walked back the claim that a suspected Capitol rioter was found to be in possession of a “fully constructed” LEGO set of the U.S. Capitol.
How we got here: The finding was detailed in a court document for Rober Moss, a substitute social studies teacher, according to The Pittsburg Post-Gazette, who was arrested on June 11. Prosecutors argued that he should continue to be held in pre-trial detention because of the items police seized.
The filing, dated July 2, claimed that law enforcement removed clothing and other items from Moss’ home that match how he was dressed and what he carried during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Among the items were a neck gaiter, a black tourniquet, a military utility bag, military fatigues, a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, as well as a notebook that included “Step by Step To Create Hometown Militia.”
Prosecutors also wrote that law enforcement “recovered a fully constructed U.S. Capitol Lego set.”
The Department of Justice said last month that Morss “led an assault on police and organized support from other rioters.” He was charged with “assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; obstruction of an official proceeding; civil disorder; and robbery of personal property of the United States,” according to the DOJ.
The retraction: In a supplemental motion, the Justice Department noted the original detention memoranda misrepresented the LEGO set finding and that it was not “fully constructed.”
“In the original detention memoranda, the undersigned stated that law enforcement found a ‘fully constructed U.S. Capitol Lego set.’ Please note that after a review of the photographs from the search, there appears to have been a miscommunication and that statement appears to be inaccurate. The Lego set was in a box and not fully constructed at the time of the search, as pictured below,” they wrote.
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