By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A Wixom man accused of striking police with a hockey stick at the U.S. Capitol riot has had his request for bond denied.

29-year-old Michael Foy asked a federal judge to release him on bond. Following a hearing Monday in which Foy pleaded not guilty to eight felony charges, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan denied the request. He remains in custody in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors have described Foy, a former Marine, as was one of the most violent protesters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, striking police at least 10 times.

But his attorney offered a different version of what happened, claiming Foy saw a woman being trampled and was defending her from being crushed by officers. “It was objectively reasonable for Mr. Foy to believe that the police were causing death or at least imminent bodily harm...And it was reasonable for him to use force to try and prevent that physical harm and reasonable to answer what he believed to be calls for his help,” Eugene Ohm said in a court filing last week.

Foy is charged with eight crimes, including assault, civil disorder, and obstructing Congress. He is one of three Michigan men charged in the riot. Ohm said Foy had no plans for violence, only to watch and hear President Donald Trump speak in person. He said his client was only in the Capitol because Trump “insisted that patriotism required action.”

However, prosecutors said Foy remained a danger to the public as his actions “heightened the overall violence and dangerousness of the day.” They contend Foy spurred on the crowd to attack police, and that police body camera footage show him among those who fought police at the lower West Terrace outside the Capitol. A still photo from an officer’s body-worn camera shows him swinging his hockey stick “over and at downed officers.”

If convicted on the charges, Foy faces up to 20 years in prison.