GREGG COUNTY, Texas — Newly released text messages between two East Texas men charged in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol show the pair were preparing for a “war zone.”
U.S. attorneys argue in court documents that Alex Kirk Harkrider, 34, of Carthage, should not be released pending trial despite his recent request to revoke his detention order and modify his bond.
Harkrider and Ryan Taylor Nichols, 30, of Longview, are in federal custody awaiting trial on charges related to the Washington, D.C., riots.
“Defendant Harkrider’s travel to Washington, D.C., was part of a pre-planned, coordinated act, in which he and his co-defendant, Ryan Nichols, prepared for violence, transported and carried weapons, and discussed going to the Capitol on January 6, 2021,” according to court documents. “The evidence demonstrates that Defendant Harkrider’s actions were not those of a mere follower nor a peaceful protester.”
Read more from CBS19's newspaper partner, the Longview News-Journal.