A Florida man whose charges were dropped on Jan. 6 as part of President Trump’s sweeping clemency grant this week was arrested Wednesday on weapons charges, court documents show.
The man, Daniel Charles Paul (39 years old), was arrested on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., according to a judicial memorandum filed with the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida and based on an indictment filed last August.
The Florida indictment charged Mr. Paul with possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon. The materials were confiscated during a search of his home in early May 2023 during his investigation in the January 6 case.
Mr. Paul had previously been convicted of domestic battery by strangulation in 2017, as well as resisting law enforcement with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer, both in October 2022, the indictment said.
Mr. Paul was indicted in May 2023 on criminal charges related to the Capitol attack, including using an explosive device to attack officers in a confined space. He has been held in a Washington, D.C., prison awaiting trial since then.
Prosecutors in the Jan. 6 case requested his detention, saying he specifically poses a “continuing danger” to law enforcement, according to the government memo. They cited footage from body cameras worn by officers and other video evidence as part of their claims that Mr. Paul used the device, documents show.
The Florida warrant was executed on Wednesday after Judge Rudolph Contreras of the US District Court ordered Mr. Paul’s case dismissed on January 6 on Tuesday, court records show.
Paul’s attorney, Amy C. Collins, said he made his first appearance Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. “He was never released from detention,” she said in a phone interview Thursday.
She said the charges should be dropped following President Trump’s action on Monday.
President Trump on Monday issued pardons and commutations to people charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and directed the Justice Department to dismiss “all pending indictments.”
