A Texas man who says he was “set up for prosecution” for shooting video of a U.S. Capitol window smashing on Jan. 6, 2021, wants to compel prosecutors to identify suspicious actors or informants who could have been behind the vandalism.
Ryan S. Zink, 34, of Lubbock, Texas, filed a motion with U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington to force the government to identify “individuals suspected of being confidential government sources, undercover agents, or protected Antifa assets.”
Prosecutors have not yet filed a reply with the court.
On March 5, 2021, Zink was indicted for alleged obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.
Zink was standing directly in front of a window on the upper-east patio of the Capitol when 20-year-old Hunter A. Ehmke of Glendora, California, jumped onto the window sill and began smashing the glass.
A group of eight Capitol Police officers tackled Ehmke and restrained him. The officers then inexplicably abandoned the broken window and left the area with Ehmke, who was later convicted and sentenced to four months in jail for the vandalism.
What happened next is at the center of Zink’s motion and remains one of the enduring mysteries of Jan. 6.
Agent and Vandal?
While Michigan journalist Bobby Powell began cleaning up the smashed glass, a man approached him and asked why he didn’t break the rest of the window and go inside the Capitol.
As Powell turned away momentarily, the dark-clad man pulled a large sheet of tempered glass from the damaged window. Powell turned his camera back just in time to capture the vandalism. The unidentified man quickly dropped the sheet of glass.
He then approached protester Gavin Crowl, shoved him so hard he nearly fell down, and shouted, “Why are you breaking that window? Who do you think you are? Get out of here!” Crowl, seemingly incredulous—since his accuser was the guilty party—walked away when the man made a fist as if to strike him, video shows.
“In this case, Mr. Zink is being prosecuted for serious crimes in part for trying to expose unknown vandals at the Capitol whom are not being prosecuted,” reads the motion filed by defense attorney John Pierce.
“As a matter of basic fairness, due process, and the right to confront accusers, Mr. Zink has a right to know and cross-examine the witnesses and actors he is accused of interacting with on January 6.”
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