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William Alexander Pope

January 6 case-file subject

William Alexander Pope profile photograph from NPR's January 6 archiveDocumented editorial-use image
NPR's The Capitol Charges; database photo credit: Department of Justice (all named credit exceptions excluded) Published for archive identification and reporting; reuse rights are not represented as cleared.Image source →

William Alexander Pope of Topeka, Kansas is a news publisher, a Kansas State University doctoral student, and the pro se January 6 defendant who pried thousands of hours of Capitol video out of the government''s hands — for everybody. He was never convicted of anything. Start there. ## What he actually did for the rest of us FACT: Pope represented himself and filed motion after motion to unseal January 6 evidence. Footage released through his litigation showed Metropolitan Police officers discussing how to identify plainclothes federal personnel, and showed MPD bicycle officers stopping four armed men in plain clothes who turned out to be federal agents. FACT: Thousands of bodycam files entered the public record through his fight. This archive has covered the release of roughly 2,700 bodycam videos tied to his case. FACT: The FBI notified Pope that Topeka Police Department bodycam footage of his own February 12, 2021 arrest had **not been preserved**. He has since sought all files and communications about the destruction of that video. THEIR ACCOUNT: Pope has argued that because the government cannot be trusted to disclose these facts on its own, defense teams — including pro se defendants — must be able to examine the evidence directly. He has also argued he was selectively prosecuted as a journalist. Every reporter, historian, and defense lawyer who has watched January 6 bodycam footage owes a debt to a graduate student from Topeka who would not stop filing. ## Who he is FACT: William Alexander Pope is the publisher of the news outlet **Free State Kansas** and a doctoral student at Kansas State University. Self-published social handle, identity-matched: **@FreeStateWill** on X. FACT: Reporting identified Pope as the first January 6 felony defendant to represent himself. ## The legal fight, and where it stands FACT: **No plea. No conviction. No sentence.** The government dismissed Counts Two, Five, and Seven, then moved to dismiss the remaining indictment **with prejudice** on January 21, 2025 — the day after the January 6 clemency proclamation. The court granted dismissal the same day. FACT: The government acknowledged in the course of the litigation that Pope was entirely peaceful on January 6. FACT: A post-dismissal discovery and sanctions ruling issued July 28, 2025. A D.C. Circuit appeal, No. 25-3102, was filed October 15, 2025. No final appellate outcome has been verified in this archive. He is still fighting — now for the file itself. He has publicly sought the Justice Department''s entire prosecution file on him. ## Case record - Case number: 1:21-cr-00128-RC - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia - Arrest: February 12, 2021 (Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas) - Disposition: indictment dismissed **with prejudice** January 21, 2025 — no conviction - Post-dismissal: discovery and sanctions memorandum opinion July 28, 2025 - Appeal: D.C. Cir. No. 25-3102, filed October 15, 2025 — pending - DOJ record: justice.gov/usao-dc/defendants/pope-william-alexander Searching *William Pope January 6*, *William Pope Topeka Kansas*, *J6 bodycam footage unsealed*, *Free State Kansas*, or *January 6 case dismissed with prejudice*? This is the record — and it is a record of charges dropped, not guilt. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you — or your family — claiming it is free, forever.

The case file

On the record

Case number
1:21-cr-00128-RC
Court
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Judge
Rudolph Contreras
Disposition
No verified plea, conviction, or sentence. The government dismissed Counts Two, Five, and Seven before moving to dismiss the remaining indictment with prejudice on January 21, 2025; the court granted dismissal the same day. A post-dismissal discovery and sanctions ruling issued July 28, 2025. D.C. Circuit appeal No. 25-3102 was filed October 15, 2025; no final appellate outcome has been verified.
Arrested
February 12, 2021

Charges

  • Civil disorder (charged allegation; entire case later dismissed with prejudice)
  • Obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting (charged allegation; Count Two dismissed before final case dismissal)
  • Entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds (charged allegation; entire case later dismissed with prejudice)
  • Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds (charged allegation; entire case later dismissed with prejudice)
  • Impeding ingress and egress in a restricted building or grounds (charged allegation; Count Five dismissed before final case dismissal)
  • Disorderly conduct in a Capitol building (charged allegation; entire case later dismissed with prejudice)
  • Impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings (charged allegation; Count Seven dismissed before final case dismissal)
  • Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building (charged allegation; entire case later dismissed with prejudice)

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Connection to United States v. Nichols

William Alexander Pope appears in the record of United States v. Nichols through 5 shared documents on file below. The full case — timeline, people, documents — is public and free.

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Evidence on file

5 documents on file

Court3 documents

Court orders, rulings, transcripts, and docket entries.

Official recordserved from the court docket

ruling · Jul 28, 2025

United States v. Pope — Post-Dismissal Discovery, Protective-Order and Sanctions Opinion

Judge Rudolph Contreras denied William Pope additional post-dismissal discovery and sanctions, granted the government return of sensitive materials, and treated the January 21, 2025 dismissal with prejudice as ending the criminal case. The opinion also records the government’s acknowledgment that a filing inaccurately said Pope assaulted officers and recounts the deletion of Topeka arrest body-camera footage under a local retention policy.

Read & discuss →Open at the source →

Govt response1 document

Responses from DC DOC, the U.S. Marshals, and federal agencies.

Other1 document

Other documents on file.