(KUTV) – Federal prosecutors asked a judge Friday to not return $90,000 in seized funds to Utah activist John Sullivan, who is charged in connection to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Sullivan’s attorney argued earlier this month that he needs the money to pay rent and household expenses, but prosecutors say the money is a direct result of his illegal participation in the Capitol riot.
“The commercial value of his footage was substantially the result of his proximity as a front-line participant in the storming of the Capitol,” federal prosecutor Candice Wong wrote in a court filing Friday. “There is evidence that the defendant came to the U.S. Capitol prepared to both film and instigate mayhem; that he exploited his posture of recording to cajole and resist officers inside the Capitol and to make his way to the front lines of confrontation.”
In April, a federal judge issued an order to seize $90,000 which Sullivan received from selling his recording of the shooting of protester Ashli Babbitt to media outlets, including CNN and NBC.
In the seizure order, the judge wrote that the money “would not have existed but for Sullivan’s illegal participation in and encouragement of the riots, property destruction, and violence inside the U.S. Capitol.”
Sullivan has claimed he was at the Capitol as a journalist to document the riot. However, prosecutors have repeatedly argued that Sullivan’s own statements in his video footage from the Capitol demonstrate he was not acting as a journalist.
In Friday’s filing, prosecutors included the following quotes they claim are directly from Sullivan in his videos.
I mean, didn’t I kind of make up a background though on the fly a little bit? I think I made up, uh – what did I say I was? Oh yeah, I was just a journalist, but I use that all the time. Yeah, I ‘m just a journalist, I’m here recording.I brought a megaphone to instigate [expletive]. I was like, 'guy’s we’re going inside, we’re [expletive] up I’m gonna make these Trump supporters F-all this [expletive] up.'Prosecutors have continued to add charges against Sullivan since he was originally charged in January. He now faces 8 charges, including obstruction, entering or remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon, and making false statements to the U.S. government, among others.
“This case crystallizes the overriding purpose of forfeiture – to ‘help ensure that crime does not pay’. Where a criminal defendant profits to the tune of $90,875 from his charged crime – proceeds that, based on the totality of facts and evidence specific to this particular case and this particular defendant, would not have obtained but for the defendant’s obstructive acts on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol – there is a strong governmental interest in taking the profits out of the crime, and removing the financial incentives for such behavior going forward,” Wong wrote.
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