John Booker Jr. waives right to appear at status hearing Monday
Booker, of Topeka, was indicted by a grand jury on terrorism charges
John Booker Jr., the young Topeka man accused of driving a vehicle laden with what he thought were explosives to Fort Riley in April, has waived his right to appear at a hearing Monday morning.
Booker, 20, was arrested April 10 as part of a lengthy FBI operation that included two informants to whom Booker allegedly detailed his plans to join the Islamic State terrorist group and die in a suicide bombing mission at Fort Riley.
Booker, of Topeka, was indicted by a federal grand jury April 16. He faces federal charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive, and one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.
Scheduled to appear Monday before U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Murguia, Booker waived his right to appear in a document filed Friday.
“I have discussed this right and waiver with counsel and am satisfied that I fully understand my right to personally appear,” the document states. “I choose to waive that right and appear through counsel only.”
The hearing Monday is scheduled to take place through a video conference. The attorneys will appear in Topeka while the judge will be in Kansas City, Kan.
On May 20, federal public defender Kirk C. Redmond asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas to grant Booker three additional weeks before a status conference. That request was granted.
Booker was scheduled to take part in the status conference on June 8. In a status conference, defense attorneys and prosecutors update a judge on how the case is preceding and other matters related to moving the case toward trial.
Booker last appeared before a judge on April 21. In the courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. O’Hara in Kansas City, Kan., Booker pleaded not guilty to the three charges. The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes.
U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, along with two assistant U.S. attorneys and two trial attorneys, filed a motion April 23 for a protective order for discovery. That order was granted by a judge.
Under such an order, the prosecutors will share declassified investigative materials and sensitive law enforcement materials with Booker’s defense attorneys “informally amongst themselves without involvement of the Court.”
Booker was arrested by FBI agents near Junction City on the morning of April 10. According to a federal indictment, Booker met with an FBI informant that morning believing the person would help him in his plot to attack Fort Riley. Booker and the informant met another FBI informant who explained the function of an alleged car bomb Booker was to detonate that morning at the base.
If convicted of the three charges, Booker could face a life sentence in the attempted use of a WMD, five to 20 years on the attempted use of an explosive device, and no more than 15 years in the attempted support of the Islamic State, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree told him during a hearing on April 10.