DA: Virginia man’s social posts, rally attendance flout bail in weapons charges case in Philadelphia related to 2020 vote counting protest

Joshua Macias was initially arrested in November 2020, after he and Antonio LaMotta drove to Philadelphia with ammunition and other weapons.

• The Associated Press
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(Philadelphia) — Philadelphia prosecutors are again asking a judge to jail a Virginia man arrested in November 2020 on weapons charges after he traveled to the Pennsylvania Convention Center where votes were being counted.

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday filed a motion asking a judge to revoke the $850,000 bail of Joshua Macias, saying he violated the conditions of his bail by attending political events and posting on social media.

A hearing is scheduled for next week on the motion. It centers on complaints that Macias allegedly can be heard narrating a live video from behind the camera during a recent “trucker protest” in Washington and that he attended at least one political rally for a Virginia candidate who has called for the execution of everyone involved in President Joe Biden’s election.

William J. Brennan, an attorney representing Macias, declined to comment on the motion.

Macias, 43, was initially arrested in November 2020, after he and Antonio LaMotta drove from Virginia to Philadelphia in a Hummer adorned with a QAnon sticker and packed with an AR-15-style rifle, more than 100 rounds of ammunition and other weapons.

Both men were charged with weapons violations for guns they were carrying as they walked to the Convention Center in the early morning hours of Nov. 5, where Philadelphia elections workers counted ballots over multiple days. They also face charges of interfering with an election.

It’s the second time prosecutors have asked to revoke bail for Macias. Prosecutors had asked in January of last year that both men be sent back to jail, saying they had violated conditions of their release by attending the Jan. 6 rally in the nation’s capital that turned into a siege of the Capitol building.

A judge declined to revoke bail at that time, but increased the amount by $100,000 and warned the men to stay off social media and not attend any political rallies.

The latest motion does not apply to LaMotta. Both men remain free on bail.

District Attorney Larry Krasner said during a news conference Thursday that the communication between the pair before they came to Philadelphia was “dangerous.”

“They should have been locked up from the jump,” Krasner said.