DETROIT (AP) - A former Marine from suburban Detroit struck police at least 10 times with a hockey stick during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, a prosecutor said Monday as he persuaded a judge to keep him locked up.
Michael Foy was “among the most violent of all the rioters that day,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Moon said. “He wasn’t there as an idle participant. Far from it. Mr. Foy is a combat-trained Marine. And as shown in the videos and pictures, he assumed a leadership role in the violence.”
Foy, 30, of Wixom was arrested last week, due to video, photos and social media postings. Authorities also had body-cam images from police who were attacked.
“He rushed officers with his hockey stick, viciously beating them 10 times in the head, face, neck and body areas, even after some of the officers had been dragged to the ground and were not in a position to defend themselves,” Moon said.
Foy subsequently crawled through a broken window into the Capitol, the prosecutor said.
Investigators have the hockey stick and a Marine hat worn by Foy, who was charged with assault and other crimes.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Morris said Foy will remain in the custody of U.S. marshals and be transported to Washington where the case was filed.
Foy has mental health problems but was honorably discharged as a Marine corporal in 2019 after five years and has no criminal record, defense attorney Colleen Fitzharris said
His alleged acts were “completely out of character,” she said.
Fitzharris asked that Foy be released to his mother, but the judge said Foy and the public would be safer if he remained in custody.
“Mr. Foy did not go to D.C. in order to commit any acts of violence,” Fitzharris said, adding that the hockey stick was used to hold a flag in favor of President Donald Trump. “Psychological studies talk a lot about the impact of mob mentality and how it causes people who otherwise would not engage in certain conduct to behave completely differently.”
Foy is the second Michigan man to be charged in the Capitol violence. Karl Dresch of Calumet was ordered held without bond last week.
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