But things were turning in Calhoun, and three months before he stormed the Capitol, he wrote on Twitter, “I have tons of ammo… I’ll use it too — on the firing range and against racist Democratic Communists.” So make my day.”
Calhoun, 58, is facing five federal lawsuits. One obstructs a governmental proceeding, which is a criminal offense punishable by 20 years in prison. Federal prosecutors offered him a plea deal, which he vehemently refused.
Calhoun told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he should be offered the same treatment as his construction worker buddy and co-defendant Verden Andrew Nally, who pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge and faces six months in prison and thousands in fines. Calhoun referred to his deal as “Osama bin Laden treatment,” suggesting he believes it is far more serious than what his participation in the “peaceful protest,” the uprising, deserved.
After his arrest, FBI investigators discovered an arsenal of weapons belonging to the attorney with over three decades of experience.
Calhoun, a University of Georgia law graduate, has not been charged with assaulting police, but according to the AJC, he boasted on social media, “We ran through several police barricades and broke through.”
He also calls Ocasio-Cortez a “dead commie walking.”
According to court documents, on Nov. 12, 2020, the FBI received a tip about Calhoun’s social media posts, including one in which he allegedly wrote, “We will kill every last communist who stands in Trump’s way.”
And in a post on Parler, AJC reports that Calhoun wrote:
“The first of us to get upstairs kicked in Nancy Pelosi’s office door and hustled down the hall to her holy of holies as the mob howled in anger – crazy Nancy would probably have been torn into little pieces but she was nowhere to be seen.”
Attorney Lester Tate, former president of the State Bar of Georgia, told AJC it was “terrible” that a colleague was involved in the riot.
So far, the state agency has taken no action against Calhoun, claiming that the agency can intervene only in response to an attorney’s professional conduct, not his personal conduct.
“When you apply to join the bar, they do credit checks, all sorts of things on your background to make sure you meet the standards for a barrister,” says Tate, adding that the board could absolutely leave to Calhoun.
Bar Association spokeswoman Jennifer Mason told the AJC, “Our rules require that the attorney be convicted before we act because our system accords the accused a presumption of innocence like any other person charged with a crime.”
Calhoun’s trial date is yet to be determined; for now, the once progressive lawyer who fought for criminal justice reform and supported Hillary Clinton before being radicalized into a racist, pro-Confederate lawyer yearning for another civil war is allowed to practice law in his hometown.
