A Washington, D.C., judge granted a request by a Jan. 6 riot defendant to be released from prison pending his appeal, a decision that directly rebuked Justice Department prosecutors’ claims that he posed a “heightened danger” during an election year.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, granted the request from convicted Confederate flag-wielding Jan. 6 defendant Kevin Seefried to be released from prison pending his appeal, writing in an 11-page order that prosecutors failed to prove a suggestion that he poses a threat or that “events that led to the riot are reasonably likely to recur.”