A college student who is the first of four men charged with damaging federal property when they allegedly tried to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson near the White House has gone before a judge.
Connor Judd, 20, attends George Washington University and is a Sigma Nu on campus, according to documents linked to his criminal complaint.
Judd, like three other men, is facing charges stemming from what prosecutors called “an attack” on the statue at D.C.’s Lafayette Square on June 22.
The documents said 200 people took part in trying to pull the statue down, which damaged the statue, its base and nearby historic canons, according to the National Park Service.
At a hearing over the phone, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather released Judd with general supervision and appointed him a defense attorney.
Judd was identified, in part, from videos posted by news outlets, which were recording the group’s attempt to pull the statue down.
Judd is described in the documents as “a white male wearing a maroon button-down shirt, gray pants with a backpack and a brown-colored face mask,” who can be heard yelling, “get off the statue” at the start of a video posted to YouTube by British tabloid The Sun.
“Judd can be observed on the statue grounds pulling a rope tied to the Andrew Jackson statue,” according to the documents citing a different news video posted online.
Judd was also caught on footage from two separate D.C. police body-worn cameras without his face mask on, holding a bottle of water, according to the documents.
Investigators have only charged four out of a group of nearly 200, as they note in the charging documents against Judd.
The details of the other men’s cases remain under seal.
