A federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled Wednesday that a participant in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot who allegedly pepper-sprayed police should remain incarcerated, calling his claims of subpar medical treatment “without merit.” Christopher Worrell, a 49-year-old member of the Proud Boys, tested positive for the coronavirus while in jail, according to his attorneys, causing his health to begin “rapidly deteriorating” due to a concurrent resurgence of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, for which he claims he was not treated adequately. Worrell said in a court appearance earlier in May: “I’m pleading with the court: I need this treatment, whatever it may be.” Judge Royce Lamberth, however, called Worrell a liar: “Contrary to defendant’s characterizations, the record reflects that he has received attentive medical care for his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, COVID-19, and other ailments while in custody… The report also notes that defendant had ‘no lymphadenopathy’ and ‘no skin lesions,’ although defendant had reported skin lesions.”

Lamberth also noted that Worrell had assumed a far more confrontational demeanor on Facebook. The alleged insurrectionist had posted, “SO WHOMEVER CALLED THE ‘FEDS’ ON ME REST ASSURED I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THIS SOON!!... It’s a simple case of a butt hurt pu**y ass bitch that thought they could F**k with someone with some dumb bullshit!!”