More than 500 individuals from over 40 states have been charged by federal prosecutors for their participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Among them is Jonathan Gennaro Mellis, a 34-year-old Trump supporter from Virginia who was arrested on February 16.
Mellis has since been in jail and had even spent the last week in solitary confinement. According to the The Gateway Pundit (TGP), he had been detained without bond since his arrest in February. Mellis is currently facing the following charges, as per USA Today: Assault or resist or impede an officer; obstruct, impede or interfere with an officer during a civil disorder; knowingly enter a restricted building; engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct.
In May, Mellis requested to be released from custody for seven days so he could attend his father's funeral. His request was denied by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan. He then wrote to TGP to share his experience of "hateful treatment" while he remains behind bars for supporting former President Donald Trump.
"In the last 7 months I have experienced and witnessed the most inhumane and hateful treatment of my 34 years of life," Mellis lamented in the letter. "The DOJ and the Biden Administration are doing everything in their power to break me."
Mellis said he wrote the letter "from solitary confinement on September 15 with no clear explanation as to why" he was ordered to go into solitary confinement, describing his quarters as a "small concrete cell." He had been there for a month. He added that he now knew why it was called "the hole" because he felt like he had been "dropped to the bottom of a deep and dark hole in the ground and forgotten."
"I am alone," Mellis lamented, admitting that it "can become quite a scary thing after weeks all alone." He added that what made his situation worse is that he was not told why he was sentenced to solitary confinement. He argued, "Every deadline given by the policy book to the jail to explain to me why I am in solitary confinement has been totally ignored."
Mellis reasoned that if he was "in trouble," authorities should have served him a Disciplinary Report in 48 hours, but they didn't. He should also have been seen by the Housing Board in a week but he never got any answers, except the "lies" from "sergeants and lieutenants."
Mellis recounted how his "isolation and disrespect" was "very harmful to one's mind and body" that had physical symptoms and eventually develop into "real depression." He explained that he also felt "a ball of rage...angry, and helpless."
The Trump supporter also called out the Justice Department for being biased against him and his kind, saying that they had "pure hate" and that all of them were "left wing" who were "encouraged by Democrat politicians." He said that only Trump supporters were being "subjected to the inhumane treatment."
"We live in constant fear of being shackled and beaten by the correctional officers. This has already happened," Mellis warned. "Several of us have been beaten by the correctional officers. Yet nobody really cares because we are Trump supporters."
"How long will they make me do this? I don't know. But I already know from experience that all of us January 6 detainees were held on solitary confinement until July," he said. "So I know first hand how long these monsters are willing to do this to me. This is inhumane and people think its OK because I'm a Trump supporter."
"I love people and I try to live a virtuous life. But because I like Trump they don't see me as human. They enjoy watching me suffer. It makes them smile. How sick is that?"
A GiveSendGo fundraiser was set up for Mellis by Evan Harris and the funds will go to getting a new lawyer who will replace the one assigned him by the court.
"His current lawyer has to go," the fundraiser reads. "He needs a lawyer who is trustworthy, responsive, and motivated."
To date, the fundraiser has gathered almost $25,000 of its $170,000 goal. Those who want to support Mellis can donate there.
On Thursday, Trump released a statement condemning the criminal prosecution of hundreds of his supporters, including Mellis, CNBC reported. He said in a written statement, "Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election. In addition to everything else, it has proven conclusively that we are a two-tiered system of justice. In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!"
