The Pennsylvania doctor arrested at Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. with multiple guns and a cache of ammunition was ordered released in advance of his second appearance in federal court.
A District of Columbia Superior Court judge released 43-year-old Bryan Moles Thursday on the condition that he stay away from the Trump Hotel and the White House and that he temporarily give up access to weapons at his home in Pennsylvania. Moles is due in federal court Friday afternoon for another hearing, NBC 4 Washington reports.
Judge Joseph Beshouri could determine no legal basis to keep Moles jailed until his second court appearance, but did express concern that Moles presented a danger to himself and others.
“Mr. Moles is certainly dealing with demons, pressure, post-traumatic stress from military service…[Moles is] unable to take anti-psychotic medication because of suicidal thoughts, and he self-medicates with marijuana,” Beshouri said during Moles’ hearing Thursday.
Moles faces charges of unlawful possession and transportation of a firearm, which he was not authorized to carry in the District of Columbia, according to police. After his arrest Wednesday, Moles was charged with local offenses, but the case was moved to federal court the following day.
Prosecutors described Moles as a recovering alcoholic and marijuana addict who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He served in the Navy from 1992 to 2006, reports NBC 4.
Before driving from Pennsylvania to the Trump Hotel in Washington, Moles called an acquaintance and described himself as himself as “a refugee intent on bringing down big pharmacy and big business medicine,” according to court documents filed Thursday. He also made references to Eric Rudolph, who was convicted of multiple acts of domestic terrorism for bombing the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.
Moles had already checked into his room when police, responding to a tipster’s call, discovered an AR-15 rifle, a .40-caliber handgun and 90 rounds of ammunition in his car outside the hotel.
Metropolitan Police Department Chief of Police Peter Newsham said at the time that that authorities “averted a potential disaster,” but Secret Service agents subsequently interviewed Moles and determined he did not pose a threat to anyone under their protection. Officials have said Moles is cooperating with the investigation.
Moles’ friends and family disputed accusations that he is mentally distrubed and said that the weapons charges can be chalked up to a misunderstanding about Washington’s gun rules. They said that Moles, a married father of two young boys, owns guns for protection and didn’t realize he couldn’t transport them into nation’s capital.
“He is mentally stable in every way, shape or form,” Lisa Dellaratta, a longtime friend, told NBC News. “There is nothing in Bryan’s history or pattern of behavior that would make me think he was a threat at all.”
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