GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A person accused of attacking a Colorado reporter after questioning whether or not he was a citizen and saying “That is Trump’s America now” has had psychological well being points for years, his lawyer stated.
Patrick Egan, 39, has been charged with assault, committing a bias-motivated crime and harassment in reference to an assault on KKCO/KJCT reporter Ja’Ronn Alex on Dec. 18 outdoors the tv station in Grand Junction, about 240 miles (390 kilometers) west of Denver. Alex informed police that he believed he had been adopted by Egan, who was working as a taxi driver, after which assaulted as a result of he’s Pacific Islander, in accordance with court docket paperwork.
Egan’s lawyer, Ruth Swift, informed a choose throughout a court docket listening to Thursday that “he has had some ongoing psychological points for about 20 years” and is at the moment receiving therapy, KREX-TV reported. Swift didn’t return a phone name from The Related Press on Friday.
Egan has entry to psychological well being remedy and emergency disaster companies along with buddies who would help him and attain out to him if he had been launched from jail, Swift stated.
Considered one of Egan’s supporters in court docket for the listening to, Ben Wilson, informed Choose JenniLynn Lawrence that he was stunned by the allegations in opposition to Egan.
“I’ve 5 children and he’s like household,” he stated. “Once I acquired the information of what occurred, (I believed) ‘That’s not Patrick.’”
Lawrence denied Swift’s request to decrease his bond from $20,000 money. She stated Egan, who has misplaced his job as a driver, poses a “vital group security danger,” and she or he expressed concern about Egan’s willingness and skill to seem at future court docket hearings.
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