These Capitol riot defendants want to go to Trump's inauguration. Some judges aren't on board.

WASHINGTON – As he fights multiple felony charges for allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers on Jan. 6, 2021, Tommy Tatum of Mississippi had hoped to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.

Prosecutors resisted that request, arguing Tatum could end up face-to-face with officers he's accused of attacking.

A federal judge agreed Tatum poses a potential threat, one of several recent rulings by judges barring Jan. 6 defendants from participating in events celebrating Trump’s return to office.

“Tatum’s alleged conduct was particularly violent,” U.S. District Judge John Bates wrote of the need to continue to restrict Tatum’s travel to the nation’s capital while he’s awaiting trial.

The nearly 1,600 people charged with crimes related to the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are counting on Trump to fulfill his promise to pardon at least some of them.

In the meantime, some have had mixed success in getting judges to let them attend Trump’s inauguration.

Defendant facing misdemeanors allowed to attend inauguration

Eric Lee Peterson, who is charged with disorderly and disruptive conduct, asked to travel from Kansas City, Missouri, to watch Trump get sworn in. His lawyers said he is a business owner and military veteran with no criminal record before the Jan. 6 case.

Peterson faces misdemeanors for entering the Capitol and has said he was not aware at the time of the violent protests and property damage.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan approved his request last month.

But other defendants with more serious charges are being kept away.

Lawyers for Christopher Belliveau of Sanford, Maine, argued that he is presumed innocent while awaiting trial, and that being charged “does not suggest that he is inherently more dangerous than any other person.” His lawyers called him a respected business owner with no prior history of violence or vandalism, and said his conduct awaiting trial has been “exemplary.”

But U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly pointed to the “serious nature” of the charges against Belliveau, who allegedly attacked an officer with chemical spray outside the Capitol. He then entered the building for about 15 minutes carrying a bullhorn and hockey stick, according to court records.

Request rejected ? despite invite from congressman

Another federal judge rejected the travel request of a California man who had a personal invitation from a member of Congress to attend the inauguration with his wife and children.

Former Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, vouched for Russell Taylor’s “integrity, faith, and good values.”

His lawyers argued that Taylor, who received a three-year probationary sentence for conspiring to obstruct Congress, “does not pose any risk or concern for this travel request.”

But U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth denied the request this month, citing Taylor's "unusually grave conduct" on Jan. 6.

Taylor gave a backpack full of weapons including “a knife, a stun baton, two hatchets and carbon fiber knuckle gloves” to a co-defendant to transport to Washington.

During the riot, Taylor pushed past police barricades and joined the push against police officers outside the building, the judge noted. Taylor had said his goal was insurrection, and he pleaded guilty in 2023.

“While he did not personally assault law enforcement officers, he did threaten them and encourage other rioters who were actively assaulting them," Lamberth wrote.

Pending requests

One request that has not yet been acted on is from Cindy Young, who was convicted of four misdemeanors in August for entering and remaining in the Capitol and disorderly conduct. She was sentenced to four months in prison and a year of probation.

While Young’s lawyers argue she poses no threat, government lawyers highlighted her actions on Jan. 6, including that she helped interrupt Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s victory and only left the Capitol after another rioter was shot to death.

The Justice Department also said Young has called for retribution against jurors, judges and law enforcement officers involved in prosecuting the Jan. 6 defendants, all of whom are in the Washington area.

'I will be entirely peaceful'

Prosecutors are also worried about the potential danger posed to law enforcement officers by William Pope of Topeka, Kansas.

Pope, who has been charged with obstructing Congress, civil disorder and entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, told a federal judge considering his travel request that he has been back to Washington twice since 2021 without incident.

“As with all my previous trips to D.C., I will be entirely peaceful,” Pope wrote in his request.

But government lawyers put the focus back on 2021, arguing Pope “stood at the vanguard of the crowd,” pushing past police officers to enter the Capitol.

“These rioters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol building,” prosecutors wrote in their filing, “requiring elected officials and their staff to flee or shelter in place and resulting in hundreds of injured officers and even multiple deaths.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judges reject Jan. 6 defendants' requests to attend Trump's inauguration