A federal magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., just bent over backward to comfort a man charged with trying to kill President Trump.U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui, an Obama-era appointee with a track record handling January 6 cases, took the extraordinary step of apologizing in court to 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen. Allen faces charges for firing a shotgun at a Secret Service agent during the April 25 White House Correspondents’ Dinner in what prosecutors call an assassination attempt.Faruqui complained about Allen’s conditions in jail, calling them “legally deficient.” He highlighted solitary confinement, suicide watch, and the shocking denial of a Bible to the suspect—who has no prior criminal record. The judge even suggested Allen’s treatment was worse than what other defendants receive.This is the same system that locked up January 6 protesters for years in deplorable conditions with little sympathy from the bench. But when a Trump threat shows up, suddenly the judge is shedding tears over basic security measures.Conservatives are rightly furious, demanding Faruqui’s recusal or removal. In a country where political violence against Trump has become routine, this kind of judicial hand-wringing sends a dangerous message: protecting the assassin matters more than protecting the president.
