Jan. 6 defendant Pezzola remains in jail

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Dominic Pezzola, one of the local men accused in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, is staying in jail for the rest of the year. And when we mark the anniversary of the assault on the Capitol, he’ll probably still be locked up.

Wednesday in federal court in Washington D.C., Judge Tim Kelly refused to reverse his decision to keep Pezzola in jail and set the next court date to Jan. 11, 2022.

Answering Pezzola’s appeal to be released, Judge Kelly said Pezzola did not present anything new that would make him change his mind. Therefore, Judge Kelly said he "declined to reconsider my previous decision" to keep Pezzola in custody.

The government says Pezzola, a member of the group called The Proud Boys, was in the crowd at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the government produced a video which it says shows Pezzola the moment when he stole a police riot shield.

The shield comes up in another cell phone clip presented by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Man: "You just stole a riot shield?"

Pezzola: "Yeah."

Man: "Wow."

Pezzola is accused of charging up the scaffolding stairs at the Capitol and using the shield to smash a window allowing a wave of people inside the building.

Pezzola pled not guilty.

In his argument to get out of jail, Pezzola said he couldn’t get access to evidence or talk to his lawyers easily. In court Wednesday, one of his lawyers said it takes weeks to set up a conference call.

But according to NBC Washington reporter Scott McFarlane, who reports on January 6th cases daily, Pezzola has made more "granular" complaints including inmates had to "share nail clippers."

In an interview with me last month, McFarlane described Pezzola as one of the high-profile cases.

There are 45 Jan. 6 defendants in the D.C jail.

They’re all together in one wing. McFarlane says the inmates call it the "patriot wing." He tweeted Pezzola is known as "Dom."

McFarlane reported a defendant from Buffalo got released from the D.C. jail Tuesday after his lawyer told the court the wing was "cult-like" with a "toxic atmosphere." The judge released Thomas Sibick, 35 years old, into the custody of his parents