Judge gives chilly response to Jan. 6 defendant's Jamaican vacation request

A federal court judge in Washington, D.C. on Thursday rejected a Jan. 6 defendant's request to take a winter vacation in Jamaica with his girlfriend.

Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell noted that the defendant, Anthony Robert Williams, filed the request on the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.

"Defendant, while on pretrial release and facing charges including a serious felony offense, stemming from his alleged actions on January 6, 2021, wishes to leave the Michigan winter to spend ten days in the warmer climes of Jamaica to meet the family of a woman with whom defendant has been in a committed relationship for 'more than a year,'" Howell wrote in a ruling, shooting down the request on the same day it was filed.