California Trump supporter accused in bomb plot to remain jailed despite wife’s plea

A week after the wife of a man accused of plotting to blow up the California Democratic headquarters in Sacramento backed out of agreeing to watch over him if he won release from jail, she returned to court Tuesday to tell a judge she’s had a “change of heart.”

But U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex Tse in San Francisco wasn’t having it, saying that recordings of jail phone calls between Jarrod Copeland and his wife, Sheila, after the July 20 hearing convinced him that Copeland is too dangerous to be released.

“They seem very volatile to me,” Tse told Sheila Copeland during a Zoom video hearing as Jarrod Copeland watched from the Santa Rita Jail. “The calls, they seem like the communications between you and your husband were fairly volatile. ...

“My concern is that the nature of these calls ... indicates no change of heart, and it also exhibits a level of volatility and instability. I do find, Mr. Copeland, that I’m not going to release you. I do not find that there’s a combination of factors that I can put together to release you. I do feel that you are posing a danger to the community.

“The charges you are facing are very serious.”

Tse’s ruling came as Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Riebli was prepared to read transcripts of the phone calls, but Tse stopped him, saying his own reading of the communications was that “they were very angry calls” and that he was not going to allow Copeland to return to the couple’s Sacramento apartment.

Copeland was ordered to remain jailed pending trial along with co-defendant Ian Benjamin Rogers, who also remains in custody. The pair were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to destroy a building, possession of destructive devices and machine guns and obstruction of justice.

The two supporters of former President Donald Trump are accused of plotting to blow up the California Democratic Party headquarters following President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, a move they allegedly hoped would create a national “movement” that others would follow.

The alleged plot, and talk of involving militia groups involved in protesting the presidential election, began Nov. 25, court records say, around the same time pro-Trump protests were erupting around the nation. The talk allegedly continued after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, with Rogers allegedly telling Copeland, “I want to blow up a democrat building bad,” court records say.

“I agree. Plan attack,” Copeland allegedly replied.

Tuesday’s hearing came shortly after devastating testimony during the first hearing by a House select committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., and as the FBI continues to arrest suspects nationwide in those attacks against the Capitol.

Copeland defense attorney John Ambrosio has said the conversations between Copeland and Rogers were just talk between friends “letting off steam.”

Federal officials say the allegations involve domestic terrorism, and note that FBI agents seized 50 firearms, five pipe bombs and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Alex Porter, a lawyer for the Democrats, argued last week that the alleged plot against the building at 1830 Ninth St. had been “incredibly distressing” to the employees and volunteers who frequent the headquarters, and had asked Tse to keep Copeland in custody.

Copeland, a 37-year-old tool salesman, is an Army deserter and steroid user, court records say, but has no history of violence.

In last week’s hearing, Tse had discussed the possibility of releasing Copeland to his apartment with conditions that he not have access to weapons, not use steroids and only have access to one electronic device, and he warned Copeland’s wife that she would be responsible for ensuring he followed the restrictions and could be jailed if she failed to do so.

After that warning, Sheila Copeland backed out of her agreement to overrsee him at home.

On Tuesday, Tse began the hearing by noting that he had not made a final decision last week and the fact that Copeland was still in custody was not his wife’s fault.

“What I don’t want to leave people thinking is that this was all Mrs. Copeland’s undoing,” Tse said. “She was not the deciding factor on whether or not Mr. Copeland remains detained.”

Sheila Copeland then told the judge that she simply froze during last week’s hearing and believed she could be her husband’s legal custodian.

“I made a mistake during the last hearing,” she said. “I would still like to be Jarrod’s custodian...

“I’ve known him for 13 years and what I said in the first hearing was I’m the only on in the room that does know him. No one in the room knows us. We are law-abiding citizens. We are just a couple trying to live our lives. We’re both goal-oriented and career oriented. Jarrod deserves another chance, your honor.”

The prosecutor conceded that “Ms. Copeland has been placed in an impossible situation,” then said he wanted to read part of the phone calls between the Copeland that took place after last week’s hearing.

Instead, Tse made it clear he had no plans to release Copeland, and set his next court date for Aug. 18.

This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 12:01 PM.