By Jon King / jking@whmi.com



Federal officials say a Wixom man accused of striking police with a hockey stick at the U.S. Capitol riot remains a threat to the public and should stay behind bars.

29-year-old Michael Foy remains jailed without bond in Washington, D.C. after his arrest in the weeks following the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Prosecutors have described Foy, a former Marine, as was one of the most violent protesters that day, striking police at least 10 times. Foy is charged with eight crimes, including assault, civil disorder and obstructing Congress.

Prosecutors 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. They say that a still photo from an officer’s body-worn camera shows him swinging his hockey stick “over and at downed officers.”

His attorney said Foy was only in the Capitol that day because former President Trump “insisted that patriotism required action” and that he had no intent to use the hockey stick as a weapon. A previous motion stated that Foy was defending a woman he reportedly saw being trampled and that it was “reasonable for him to use force to try and prevent that physical harm.”

However, in documents filed Friday, prosecutors say Foy “poses an ongoing threat to the community,” citing evidence of his assault on police officers, saying the claim he didn’t intend to use the hockey stick as a weapon, “an insult to the brave and heroic law enforcement officers…brutally attacked and assaulted” by Foy. They also answered a defense motion that claimed bail is appropriate as the government failed to provide discovery materials needed to prepare for trial.

Prosecutors say the defense has since received a “substantial amount of body-worn camera videos, other videos, law enforcement paperwork for this case, surveillance video, downloaded copies of all items from his cellphone, and many other items to prepare for trial in this matter” with additional materials still to come, including witness statements, “forensic searches of electronic devices and social media accounts of similarly situated defendants, and citizen tips.”

Foy’s attorney has until Friday to respond to the government’s motion to deny bail, with a status conference in the case set for June 2nd.

If convicted on the charges, Foy faces up to 20 years in prison. He is one of at least eight Michigan men charged in the riot.


Photos from federal indictment of Foy.