Alleged Capitol rioters say they were ‘force fed’ critical race theory in jail

Two accused Capitol rioters are saying they are being “force fed” critical race theory in a Washington, D.C., jail where they have been detained. 

Ryan Nichols of Texas and Robert Morss of Pennsylvania wrote a letter to a D.C. federal judge on Tuesday alleging that they have endured “constitutional, human, and civil rights violations.”

Among a list of 77 grievances, the men allege that they must beg for water and medical aid, and that they are not allowed religious services or visitors. 

“We are force fed CRT [critical race theory] propaganda on tablets,” the two wrote. They also claimed they are “force fed reeducation propaganda” and that there is “anti-White Racial messaging” on their tablets.

The letter was attached to a motion that Nichols’s attorney, Joseph McBride, filed asking the court to release him on personal recognizance to the custody of his wife. 

Nichols has been detained for just over nine months. While in prison, he has been “regularly discriminated against for being White,” and is “forced to endure disgusting racial animus and slurs regularly,” McBride wrote in the motion, which was filed Nov. 1.

The Hill has reached out to the D.C. Department of Corrections and attorneys for Nichols and Morss for comment.

Nichols pleaded not guilty in April to around a dozen charges in connection with the riots. He is accused of entering the Capitol with pepper spray and a crowbar, according to an affidavit.

Nichols is also accused of pepper spraying officers who were trying to prevent rioters from entering the Capitol.

Separately, Morss pleaded not guilty in June to four charges in connection with the riots. He is accused of helping rioters take shields form police officers, organizing a “shield wall” against officers guarding the lower west terrace of the Capitol and entering the Capitol through a broken window, an affidavit states.

Morss and Nichols’s letter comes as conditions inside of the D.C. jail have come under scrutiny. Republicans have claimed they were not allowed to enter the facility to inspect conditions.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered another defendant who was diagnosed with cancer to be released after an inspection found that prisoners were living in “deplorable” conditions.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) claimed she visited the jail for three hours and spoke with Jan. 6 defendants. She said has “never seen human suffering like I witnessed.”